


Fight Club

by Abs (starryeyedinspiration)



Category: GOT7, Triple H (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Artist Kim Taehyung | V, Barista Park Jimin, Case Worker Kim Namjoon, Dancer Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Dancer Park Jimin, Fight Club - Freeform, Jeon Jungkook & Kim Yugyeom Are Best Friends, Jeon Jungkook Is Bad at Feelings, Jeon Jungkook is Whipped, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope Is a Sweetheart, Kim Namjoon | RM is a Sweetheart, Kim Seokjin | Jin Being a Mom, Kim Seokjin | Jin Is a Good Hyung, Kim Seokjin | Jin is So Done, Kim Taehyung | V & Park Jimin Are Best Friends, Kim Taehyung | V-centric, M/M, Min Yoongi | Suga Is Bad at Feelings, Min Yoongi | Suga Is Whipped, Minor Kunpimook Bhuwakul | BamBam/Kim Yugyeom, Minor Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Nurse Kim Seokjin | Jin, Oblivious Kim Taehyung | V, Oblivious Min Yoongi | Suga, Oblivious Park Jimin, Photographer Jeon Jungkook, Private Military Jeon Jungkook, Producer Min Yoongi | Suga, Smitten Jeon Jungkook, Tattoo Artist Kim Taehyung | V, Underground Rapper Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Underground Rapper Kim Namjoon | RM, Underground Rapper Min Yoongi | Suga, University Student Park Jimin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-05-21 10:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 64,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14913474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryeyedinspiration/pseuds/Abs
Summary: A mainly Yoonmin centered fic where.. well you can tell by the name. Established Namjin and pining Yoonmin and Taekook.-“So let me get this straight.. you got pissed off at each other, beat each other up, had a heart to heart whilst drinking and then called Namjoon because you realized you were still bleeding?” Jin asks with his arms crossed looking between the two of us.“Jin, Jinnie, Jinothy... that sounds weird can I call you Jin?” He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.“Jin, Yoongi and I we’re like- like Naruto and Sauske!” It’s Yoongi’s turn to nod and he holds his hand out to high five me. We miss and he cracks up.“That explains nothing!” He walks out of the kitchen “Namjoon I’m letting your idiots bleed out. They’re shinobi they should be able to handle it.” There’s a muffled ‘what the hell’ and a slamming door.-or the fight club fic that doesn’t have that much fight club, but has plenty of angsty fluff and a sad attempt at humor.





	1. The One With The Galaxy

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what I'm doing... sorry ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

“Do you think he would hate me more if I told him I was leaving or if I just left a note on the fridge and all my stuff was gone?” Taehyung looked up from where he was permanently putting a galaxy on my forearm. He blinked a couple of times “What would the note say?”  I ran my other hand down my face “I don’t know Tae. Something along the lines of thanks for taking care of me all these years but I think it’s time I stop being a deadbeat and take care of myself even if I have to live in a roach motel... I’ll probably have to live in a roach motel... Oh God, I’m going to have to sleep with roaches.”

  
Taehyung sighed and started back on the galaxy. “Kook, listen. Yoongi isn’t going to hate you no matter how you tell him. He loves you more than well, just about anything or anyone in his life. That being said, he is going to be a major dick about all of this because of that. He doesn’t just let people walk into his life, he chooses who he lets in. Think about it, besides Joon you’re the oldest friend he has and he’ll probably see this as you leaving him or you just being a pig-headed little shit.” I sniff a laugh. “So ixnay the note and tell him why you’re doing this and how you’re going to do this.”   
  
I told my arm behind my head and smile at him “So that part about me being ‘a pig-headed little shit’ was that the worlds best Yoongi impersonation or was that a little bit of you talking too?” The corner of Tae’s mouth quirks. “Whatever do you mean, my dear Kookie? I would never think such despicable things about my golden boy.” I chuckle at him as he wipes the excess ink from my arm.

“You’re set, go check it out in the mirror.” I jump out of the plush seat and stride over to the mirror. I let out a long wolf whistle “You’ve outdone yourself, my friend. This is one of my favorites you’ve done for me.” I turn my arm back and forth admiring his work. “I can't even exactly tell you why I love it so much.. It's scifi-y and a little retro but I think it still suits me... and I can completely see your art style in it. I love it.” 

I bring my arm up to admire the delicate swirls of the galaxy “Aish, don’t even think about touching that with your dirty fingers. Respect the art.” He comes over and moves my other hand away scowling at me. I stick my tongue out at him and he giggles a little “Stop moving, I need to get a picture for the shops Instagram.” I still and sigh softly as he takes a couple shots at various angles. “You better tag me in that. I’m trying to get Instagram famous, you know.” Taehyung laughs as he sets the phone down and puts a layer of gauze and plastic wrap around my arm. 

[](https://ibb.co/k8Foed)

Instead of moving away after he finished he holds my forearm and looks at me. “Kook.” He says softly like if he says it any louder he’ll scare me away. “Promise me that if you can’t find anywhere acceptable, anywhere safe to stay that you’ll come and stay with me and Jimin. You don’t have to make friends with the roaches.” He says with a soft smile. I close my eyes for a couple seconds because this man; this sweet, kind-hearted man, doesn’t know that staying with him would probably hurt me more than living with a few crack heads.

I nod. “I’ll keep it in mind Tae.”


	2. The One With Pineapple Pizza

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There could be some mistakes, this hasn't been checked.

[](https://ibb.co/icGTed)

[](https://ibb.co/mCifsy)

I throw my phone on the couch next to me and sigh. I run my hands down my face and realize that this is the first time all day that I’ve stopped moving and just took a second to breathe. Honestly, I should already be in bed, I have to get up at 7 and it’s pushing 4. 

“I don’t want to do this!” I groan to Yoongi’s almost obnoxiously big apartment. 

Yoongi has been the only constant in my life for the past 7 years... Jesus Christ, it’s been 7 years. Our time together hasn’t always been easy and I haven’t always liked him; but besides Jin, Joon, Jimin, Gyeom, and Hobi he’s the only family I have. Ah, how could I forget I have Tae? _Maybe because you don’t, _my mind provides easily enough. Not in the way I’ve seen him since I was 16.__

____

Even if I don’t have him, he’s been an amazing support and confidante to me throughout the years. When I was haunted by the things in my past or so pissed off at Yoongi that I couldn’t see straight, he was there. He always knows what to do or what to say and honestly... It pisses me off. I know it’s not rational thinking but I don’t talk that much and I don’t even understand my emotions sometimes but he reads me like a book. As much as he can see through me I’m surprised he doesn’t know about my feelings for him. Then again, maybe he does and is kind enough not to break my heart. That’s something my Tae would do.

____

I hear the door open and panic, how the hell did I spend an hour thinking about Tae when I should’ve used that time thinking of ways I got out of this situation without a.) being punched by Yoongi or b.) punching Yoongi. I check my phone and it’s just after 4; he’s early. Probably too worried something's wrong to stay at the studio.

____

Holly jumps off the back of the couch onto my stomach and runs down the down towards the sounds of Yoongi. “Damn it, dog!” 

____

“What are you yelling about?” Yoongi asks as he walks in cooing at Holly. I sit up and wrap my arms around my stomach. “Your devil spawn is trying to kill me. Control her.” I huff as he sets her on the floor. “Quit whining would ya? She’s a 4-pound angel and you’re an 8-foot oaf, I think you can take her.” I sigh dramatically and heave myself off the couch and towards the kitchen where Yoongi is searching the fridge for something other than vodka, condiments, or mine and Tae’s fake snow. Spoiler alert: there isn’t anything. 

____

“Why are you home? I thought you said you’d be an hour?”

____

“Finished earlier than I thought. What’d you need kid?” He asks chewing on what looks like a baby carrot. “Ah yes, that.” I say sitting on a bar stool. He raises his eyebrows. “You see since my birth the long road of life has taken me on many a turn and one of-” Yoongi holds his hand up. “Jesus Kook, why are you drawing this out? Did you break something? Do you want something? Tell me what you need.” I wring my hands in my lap and refuse to meet his eyes. “Kook look at me.” 

____

I raise my eyes and see his stupid squishy face filled with concern. “Tell me what’s going on.” I take a breath “I’m moving out.” Yoongi’s face stays relatively blank but then he turns and starts rifling through the takeout menus. “There isn’t anything here except soy sauce and ketchup. I’m thinking pizza, yeah?” I rub my hand across my face “First of all, I know you heard me don’t be a dick. And second, _Dracula, _it’s 4:11 in the morning there’s no pizza places open right now.” I hold my phone up so he can see the time.__

______ _ _

His eyes narrow on my sleeve, more specifically the saran wrap peeking out from under my sleeve. I slowly lower my phone and try to nonchalantly grab the cuff without him noticing. “So anyway, where are we getting pizza?” Yoongi grabs my arm and pulls it towards himself, at this point, there’s no point in trying to hide it. He shoves the sleeve up and I let out a hiss “Easy, would you?” He shakes his head at me and lets my arm go. 

______ _ _

“How much did that set you back? It’s gotta be a pretty penny. I know Taehyung does good work so his prices must show that. So tell me did he rob you blind or-”

______ _ _

“For the love of God Yoongi stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about so just don’t.” I will myself to stay calm replaying the words Tae said to me a few hours earlier.

______ _ _

“I mean honestly Jungkook, I know you’re in love with him but what the hell? Do you even like tattoos? You’ve littered your body with them for him!” He gestures his hands towards me like my body is an accusation. My tattoos aren’t a tool I’m using to woo a pretty boy, I’m telling the story of me. Every time I tell Taehyung what I want he brings it to life and then the feeling, the passion, the nerdy proof of my existence is on my skin for everyone to see. I find that to be a beautiful thing. 

______ _ _

“Yoongi, you know that it’s not-”

______ _ _

He rubs a hand down his face “I don’t think you’re understanding the gravity of the situation Jungkook. How are you going to buy time with Taehyung when you have a place of your own? God, with the amount those idiots pay you do you know where you would have to live just to get by? I won’t be able to sleep at night!” I know I shouldn’t push him but I mumble out “You already don’t.” 

______ _ _

He rolls his eyes at me “Since we’re already fighting, I think you should go back to school. I don’t understand why you ever dropped out in the first place. You act like I don’t have the money to spend on tuition.” 

______ _ _

“That’s exactly the problem Yoongi. You can’t support me my entire life. I have to-“

______ _ _

“So you’d rather be unhappy for the rest of your life?” I see him nearing his boiling point and wish I would’ve thought of ways to diffuse this situation instead of thinking about Taehyung. “You loved what you were doing and now I can see how the days drag on you. I know you don’t want to be someone’s guard dog for the rest of your life. You literally put your life on the line for some diplomats wife and baby but has it ever actually crossed your mind that you could actually get shot? You could have to shoot someone?”

______ _ _

He runs his fingers through his hair. “You’re a smart kid Kook, but right now? You’re being a dumbass.” There it is, the voice. The ‘I love you but you’re being ridiculous’ voice. The ‘I’m not angry, just disappointed.’ voice. 

______ _ _

I let out a small laugh “You have to be the biggest hypocrite known to man. Talk to me when you’re Agustd full time not just on weekends and holidays.” I stand up to walk away from him, from this situation, from this confrontation. “Jungkook, we aren’t done talking about this!” He follows me into the living room. “

______ _ _

"I’m telling you, Yoon, drop it. I’ve almost been up for 24 hours and I can’t properly talk to you when I’m exhausted, pissed, and hungry. We’ll figure it out tomorrow or something.” I try to continue through the living room but he grabs my wrist.

______ _ _

“You know that’s not how we work things out. Just tell me what you’re thinking, for fuck's sake.”

______ _ _

I pull my arm away from his hand with minimal force and cross them “You wanna know what I’m thinking? Okay, I’ll tell you everything that's going on in my head right now. I’m thinking pineapple pizza sounds amazing right now. I’m thinking that I should’ve said something about Tae’s new hair color, he's fucking breathtaking. I’m thinking that I’m stuck and that feeling is slowly killing me. I’m thinking that I was adopted and taken care of so well that I’ve been ruined as an adult. I’m thinking that I love you but I have to do this. I’m thinking that when you assume things about me or what I’m doing I want to punch you in the face. I’m thinking how when you use the voice that it makes me feel small and that pisses me off. I’m thinking that when you can’t properly express your feelings you attack people who don’t deserve it, i.e. Tae.” I take a step towards him and poke his chest with my finger, emphasizing my words.

______ _ _

He looks down at where my finger currently lies, jammed into the middle of his chest. He looks back up at me with a steeled gaze “Watch yourself, boy” 

______ _ _

I drop my hand fold my arms across my chest. “Honestly Yoongi, what are you going to do about it if I don’t?” I say as I shift my weight to my right foot.

______ _ _

He coughs a laugh “What am I supposed to do? Ground you? Fight you? You’re not my kid, you’re not even my brother but here I am. Taking care of you. That’s my role. You’ve made it a hard one, one I didn’t ask for-”

______ _ _

Before I realized what happened I see Yoongi stumbling back and feel a pain in my fist. This escalated quickly is all I can think before Yoongi grabs my shirt and pushes me up against the wall. “I’m not fighting you, kid!” He pushes me back against the wall roughly.

______ _ _

Maybe because it’s 4 in the morning and I haven’t eaten in 15 hours or maybe because I have a death wish I punch him again. “I’m not a fucking kid!” 

______ _ _

He wipes blood from the corner of his mouth and laughs “Really? Fine then, I shouldn’t treat you like one.”

______ _ _


	3. The One With Naruto and Sauske

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't read / watched Naruto, sorry ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

“So let me get this straight.. you got pissed off at each other, beat each other up, had a heart to heart whilst drinking and then called Namjoon because you realized you were bleeding?” Jin asks with his arms crossed looking between the two of us.

“Jin you don’t get it, we felt things. We don’t do that. There was nothing we could do.” Yoongi slurred as I nodded my head vigorously. Jin’s face pinched together at that “You don’t feel things?” His voice sounding strained and the tips of his ears are starting to turn red.

“Jin, Jinnie, Jinothy, that sounds weird can I call you Jin?” He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “Jin, Yoongi and I we’re like.. like.. Naruto and Sauske!” It’s Yoongi’s turn to nod and he holds his hand out to high five me. We miss and he cracks up.

“That explains nothing!” He walks out of the kitchen “Namjoon I’m letting your idiots bleed out. They’re shinobi they should be able to handle it.” There’s a muffled ‘what the hell’ and a slamming door. “Ooh, we got in trouble.” I laugh. 

I look over at Yoongi to see his face he’s gotten serious. “What?” I ask a wide eyed Yoongi “I think we could be shinobi.” He says with a straight face. “Hell yeah, we could!” I laugh so hard my sides hurt. “I’m going to be the next Hokage.” Yoongi smiles at me “Believe it!” He hits my back and I fall off the counter. I mumble a dammit and look up to see Namjoon facepalming harder than I’ve ever seen anyone facepalm in my life. 

“What the hell guys?” I shrug against a chorus of Yoongi’s laugh. “Come on, I have a case meeting in three hours and you pissed Jin off we need to figure out what to do with you.” He holds his hand out to help me and after a couple fumbled misses I take it and he pulls me up. His phone starts to ring “I have to take this, get out of Jin’s kitchen before you break something and he beats both of you up.” He answers the phone and motions in the general direction of the living room. 

We walk down the hallway “Why in the hell are there so many pictures of Jin on the wall?” Yoongi falls on the couch and I spin to look at the media center. “There’s so many, when did we do this?” I go to sit in the recliner that turns out is a few more feet behind me. I fall with a thump and lean back on the seat. Yoongi laughs “Because we’re at Namjin’s dumbass.” I let out a little ‘oh’ and laugh with him.

“Why does our apartment look exactly like Joon’s?” He throws a hand in what I presume is a shrug “S’cause he bought all of our shit when he bought his shit.” His hand falls back down beside him “Buying furniture is the worst! Have you ever been to IKEA? It’s so big they have to put cafeterias in them.” He says so seriously it makes me laugh.

Namjoon comes into the living room still on the phone “See you in a bit.” He hangs up and starts to say something before he sees me on the ground “Why are you always on the ground?” I shrug - still laughing “Stop shrugging at me.” He sighs and helps me up again just to push me on top of Yoongi. “Get off.” He shoves my shoulder. “Don’t push me.” “You weigh a thousand pounds, you’re killing me” He slurs.

“For the love of God, stop bickering.” Namjoon again, sighs. Yoongi sits up and I move next to him. “I’m-” He starts “Sorry, Dad.” He pauses “Jesus, I’m never letting either of you drink again. I called Tae, he and Jimin are coming to get you.” I groan. “What? What is it?” He asks. “I love him Joon and I’m messed up, like fucked up” Yoongi points at Namjoon then points at me, “The kids say lit.” I nod and gesture to Yoongi “Right, thank you. I love him and I’m hella lit so I don’t know what the hell is going to come out of my mouth. You don’t expect me to be able to control myself.” Yoongi throws his arm around me “The boy is whipped!”  
“No, who would expect you to control yourself? And thank you Yoongi, enlightening.” He runs his hands down his face. “Listen, I’m sorry Jungkookie but I have to prepare and Jin’s about to leave for work. I’d take you if I could.” I collapse back against the couch. “You’re the worst, go get Jin. He called us shinobis.” Namjoon’s phone rings again “Jin! The children!” he answers and walks back the way he came. 

Jin comes from the direction of the bedrooms dressed in his scrubs “Ay yo, look Yoon it’s McDreamy.” Jin cracks a smile “Flattery will get you nowhere, kid. I ask you to at least try to keep your mouth shut around Tae, I think sober you will thank you.” He checks his phone “I mean it would be funny but do it for sober Jungkook. I have to finish getting ready for my shift. Stay.” He points at both of us. “Yes, sir!” Yoongi and I salute in sync before falling into a pit of giggles. The doorbell rings and I immediately stopped laughing. 

“Shit.”


	4. The One Where Yoongi Makes Jimin Blush

I hear something faintly but my sleep addled brain tells me it’s not _that _important so I turn away from the intruding noise and settle back into the sweet embrace of sleep. Although, not even a few minutes later it starts again.__

____

“Tae if you don’t do something about that phone I swear to _God _I’ll kill you!” Jimin yells from his room and that catches my attention enough to finally wake me enough to realize what the sound actually is.__

______ _ _

“Sorry!” I yell offhandedly while reaching for my phone. Although Jimin and I love living together we would love to live somewhere that didn’t have paper thin walls.

______ _ _

I see the person calling is Namjoon and I get a pit in my stomach. Nothing good can come from a call from the 'dad' of our friend group at 5:30 in the morning.

______ _ _

“Hello?” I try to keep the worry out of my voice but it's a lost cause in the end.

______ _ _

“Hey Tae, I woke you up didn’t I?” His voice is as calm as always which is a good sign... I think.

______ _ _

“Yeah, but it’s okay. I was just at the shop late last night with Kook.” I sit up in bed and try to stifle a yawn.

______ _ _

“Uh, yeah about Jungkook...” There was some loud talking and rustling like Namjoon was moving through the house “Sorry, um... He’s fine, for the most part so don’t worry or anything but he’s drunk- well Yoongi and Kook are both drunk and I was hoping that you’d come to pick them up and drop them off at their place.”

______ _ _

I flip the blanket off of myself “They’re... drunk?”

______ _ _

Namjoon sighs softly “Yeah and on top that… well long story short they, well I guess you know Jungkook is moving out of Yoongi’s and he told him last night and they fought- like physically fought. Then they talked it out, or at least they said they said they did. And I guess Yoongi saw that Kook’s face was bleeding pretty bad, so called me- freaking out a bit might I add.” He takes a breath that sounds more like a sigh “So I went and got them and Jin cleaned them up for the most part before they pissed him off by making anime references he didn’t understand. Now they’re in my living room… talking about furniture I think.” 

______ _ _

I say nothing for a second trying to process everything Joon just said to me. If my friends’ personal lives weren’t in shambles this would be hilarious, I mean I knew he was worried about telling Yoongi but I didn’t think that it would be that bad. I wish I would have given Kook more advice, maybe I should have been there while he told Yoongi. But to physically fight each other? How stupid are they? “Tae?”

______ _ _

I clear my throat “Uh, yeah sorry. They’re something aren’t they?”

______ _ _

He lets out a short laugh “Yeah to say the least.”

______ _ _

“I’m going to beat Kook’s ass. He knows he can’t handle his liquor, it’s a long laid pact he can’t do more than three shots without proper supervision. Remember the Disney incident?" Joon groans. I continue "And they actually fought? How bad is it?”

______ _ _

Namjoon makes a soft contemplative noise “It’s not serious, I mean they both have busted lips and Kook’s eyebrow is split-” there’s a beep and some rustling “Hey, I’m getting a call about the case I’m preparing for. Can you come pick them up? I can try to get ahold of Hobi if you can’t.”

______ _ _

I stand and slip on my sneakers “No, no I’m coming. I’ll be there in 15 with Jimin to pick them up. Talk to you in a minute.”

______ _ _

“See you in a bit.” I throw my coat on and grab my keys off the end table by my door. “Jimin!” I throw open his door to see him buried under his blankets.

______ _ _

A muffled “This better be important if you’re waking me up at the ass crack of dawn.” comes out of the blankets.

______ _ _

I jump on him and pull the blanket down so I can see his face “It is Jiminie, Yoongi and Kook got drunk and literally had a fist fight and now they’re at Namjin’s causing havoc. I can handle Jungkook drunk alone but Yoongi’s there too and when they’re together and drunk they’re, well it’s hilarious but honestly they’re way too much for one person to handle.”

______ _ _

He makes a groaning noise “Does this mean I have to move?” I pat the side of his face “Yeah.”

______ _ _

“But it’s not even light outside yet.” He whines.

______ _ _

“Quit being a baby, c’mon.” I climb over him and pull the blankets off.

______ _ _

“You’re officially the worst.” He throws his feet over the side of the bed and stretches. I mumble out an ‘am not’ while throwing his shoes at him from the closet. “You’re making me meet Min Yoongi, _Agustd, _when first of all I look like _this _and second of all he’s drunk and battered. So yeah, it confirms your place as the worst.”____

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Fair enough, but you can get back at me some other time. My boy needs me.” Jimin waves a hand at me walking out of his room. “I’ll be in the car, your coats on the table, make sure you lock the door.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Yes, mother!” He shouts from the bathroom.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

 

_________ _ _ _ _ _

-

_________ _ _ _ _ _

 

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Jimin yawns and stretches for the third time in five minutes “Is that a nervous thing you’re doing or are you really that tired and cramped?” I ask glancing at him.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” We stop at a red light and Jimin starts shaking his leg which in turn starts shaking the car. “Ah, nervous thing. Got it.” I say blatantly looking at his leg then his face before turning back to look out the windshield. The shaking stops.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

A smile creeps up on my face as I drum my thumbs on the steering wheel. “Honestly Jiminie, by the way Joon was talking they’re so drunk I don’t think Yoongi would even remember you if you did something like, I don’t know, make a complete fool out of yourself by hardcore fanboying right to his face.” The light changes and I pull away, Jimin remains silent.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Remind me again why I like you?” He asks with a hand clutched to his chest “You love me because I’m your platonic soulmate, your person, some might even say your soul twin” Jimin chuckles a little “And who might say that?” He asks raising an eyebrow “Me, I do. I say that.” I laugh and Jimin rolls his eyes. “Really though, Jimin I wouldn’t sweat it too much. Believe me when I tell you that Agustd and Min Yoongi are two very different people. You’re smitten with the intimidating Agustd, yes, but you’ll probably be indifferent to the soft -I might even say squishy- Min Yoongi. They just have the same face, it’ll be fine.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

I pull up to Jin and Namjoon’s building and look at Jimin. “If it’s awful and you need to bail right now or at any time just say the word, my dude. They’re a lot but you’re more important than anything else I’ll have to deal with those two drunk idiots.” Jimin smiles at me.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Let’s go get your drunk boyfriend!” He says getting out of the car “Jimin! You know it’s not-“ I yell after him but he’s already halfway to the door.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

I catch up with him as he’s ringing the doorbell “Assbutt.” I say as I open the door “Joon? Jin? It’s Tae and Jimin, we’re here to collect the dumbasses.” We make our way towards the living room and find Jungkook and Yoongi on the couch. Yoongi has a split lip and a black eye, Jungkook, on the other hand, has a split lip and eyebrow and a growing bruise on his cheek. They looked like shit.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Who are you calling a dumbass, you brat.” Yoongi slurs with a slightly off put look on his face “You two, I’m calling you two dumbasses. What the hell were you thinking fighting each other? I know it’s an emotional thing but Jesus, that’s just senseless. Yoongi you’re old, you should know better.” His mouth falls open in mostly feigned shock as he clutches his chest “Kim Taehyung you wound me. I’m a spring chicken.” We all laugh at him “The fact that you used the phrase ‘spring chicken’ goes to show that you aren’t as young as you think you are, Gramps.” Jungkook pipes in.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“I’ll drop my preaching for now but when you two are sober, ooh boy is there a storm coming.” I say pointing at both of them. “What the hell are you going on about?” Yoongi asks sitting up “Yeah I didn’t catch that either, is it raining?” Jungkook tries to stand but ends up falling back on the couch and a little on Yoongi, much to his dismay. “Nothing don’t worry about it.” I sigh “Is Namjin around?” They both point behind them “Thank you.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Jimin and I walk towards the kitchen and see Jin screwing the lid on his Tervis tumbler “Oh Tae, Jimin! I didn’t hear the door. Thanks for waking up so early to come get those two idiots. If they weren’t so drunk I probably would have killed them.” I shrug and pick one of the blueberries off his plate “Who says we can’t kill them just because they’re drunk?” He laughs at me.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Listen, I know you’re protective of Jungkook but do try to go easy on Yoongi. It’s really out of character for him to physically hurt anyone, especially Kook. He must’ve really pushed his buttons to get Yoongi to hit him.” I take another blueberry and Jin shoos my hand away.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Honestly though, it doesn’t surprise me too much. I’ve wanted to punch Kookie in the face a time or two. I just never actually followed through because he’s a monster and could snap me in half.” Jimin says ending with a yawn. I glare at him “You done?” He holds his hands up in a placating manner “I was just joking, Jesus. You need some coffee.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

Jin laughs at us “I have to leave for work so I’ll catch up with you guys in a couple days at dinner. I don’t think Joon is going to be getting off the phone anytime soon, so once you have tweedle dee and tweedle dumb you can go. Thanks again for doing this, we owe you guys.” Jin picks up his lunch box and puts the strap from his bag on his shoulder. “No the people who owe us are probably passed out on your couch. You have nothing to thank us for.” He walks around the counter and hugs both Jimin and I “You guys are the best.” He glances at his watch “Okay, I really have to leave now or I’m going to be late. Love you guys, be safe, don’t kill Yoongi and Jungkook!” He yells on his way to the door.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

I sigh and rub my hand down my face “You ready to do this?” I ask Jimin, to which he jerkily nods “Other than my chest feeling like there’s a hippo sitting on it, yeah totally and completely ready.” I pinch the bridge of my nose “Jimin, you know that I was kidding earlier but they’re smashed so even if you do make a fool of yourself, which you won’t, but even if you do he won’t remember it. Yoongi’s a nice guy, especially when he’s drunk. Everything will be okay.” I put my arm around his shoulder and we walk back down the hallway. He nods “He’s one of the prettiest people I’ve ever seen.” I pat his back “I know, I know.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _

We get into the living room to find Yoongi and Jungkook passed out on the couch, Jungkook’s head snug on Yoongi’s chest “What’d I tell ya.” I make a gesturing motion and Jimin giggles. I bend over and start patting Jungkook’s face “Kookie. Kookie. Kookie, wake up. Jesus Christ. Jungkook!” Both of them jolt awake and I smile at them “Have a nice nap?” Jungkook immediately starts nodding off again “None of that, come on I’m taking you home.” I help him up as he laughs “Scandalous! At least buy me dinner first.” I huff a laugh at him “God, how are you still so drunk? How much vodka did you guys drink?” Jimin starts switching his weight from foot to foot “All of it.” Yoongi says, his eyes still closed “You drank… all the vodka?” I question. “Yes.” He slurs.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Jimin will you help him?” I ask and he looks like a deer in headlights. He nods at me. “So like all the vodka ever or all the vodka you had on hand?” I ask, readjusting a basically passed out Jungkook on my shoulder. Yoongi opens his eyes to glare at me “Ever, you little shit.” I laugh at him. “Uh, Yoongi this is Jimin my platonic soulmate. He’s going to help you to my car so we can take you to your house. Good?” He eyes Jimin and smiles at him as he helps him upright.

_________ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay, let’s go.” We start towards the door “Oh, we should probably- Namjoon! We have the drunks and we’re leaving!” Jungkook flinches at the noise “What the hell, man? Stop yelling with your voice and your pretty face and…” he slurs and his head falls on my shoulder again. “Tae!” I turn to look at Yoongi who’s leaning pretty heavily on Jimin as well “He’s so small! How do you have a friend this small?” I snort and look at Jimin whose face is as red as a tomato. “I don’t know, Yoongles. He’s a wonder, no?” We start walking down the hall again “He’s adorable as fuck is what he is.” There’s a thumping noise and Yoongi cursing and groaning. I turn to see Jimin helping him up off the floor “Panic a little?” He runs a hand through his hair “Uh, a little. Maybe a little I did.”

_________ _ _ _ _ _


	5. The One With Nitro Cold Brew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things you should know before you start:  
> -Dawn is E’Dawn from Pentagon and Triple H. I love that boy and I think him and Tae could be really good friends so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> -SM is short for Sorry Mom Tattoos, which is the shop Tae and E’Dawn work at, not SM Entertainment. 
> 
> Happy reading!

“Tae are you sure we should stop at Starbucks with these two in the car?” He glances behind us to look at a sleeping Jungkook and Yoongi in my back seat. I shrug “They’re passed out and we both have long days so yeah, we definitely should. Anyways, I’ll be at the studio all day today, then I have the closing shift at Sorry Mom’s so what I really need is a caffeine drip but six shots of espresso will do.” 

He shakes his head at me. “You’re going to stop your heart drinking that much all at once. Trust me, I’m a barista; I know things.” He looks to the back seat again. “First of all, just because you’re a barista doesn’t mean you’re a doctor, nor an authority on how much caffeine it takes to send someone into cardiac arrest. Second, you get four shots in your coffee so you have no room to talk, and third, last time I checked they aren’t ninja’s who’ll disappear without us noticing. They’re sleeping, you don’t have to check on them every two seconds.” He narrows his eyes at me “Although it is cute that you’ve had the brightest blush on your cheeks ever since he called you small.” He scoffs at me covers his face with his hands.

“C’mon Jiminie, he thinks you’re cute!” I say as I come to a stop behind the car in front of us. He peeks at me through his hands “No.” He says simply “What the hell do you mean no? I literally heard him say ‘he’s -meaning you- are fucking adorable.’ then watched you pick him up off the ground after you dropped him.” I pull up to the screen “Don’t no me.” I say before turning to order.

“Hi, can I have a white chocolate mocha frappuccino with six shots of espresso, yes six, and the hearty blueberry oatmeal…” I turn to Jimin “What do you want?” He rubs his arm trying to shake the cold air coming in from my window “Uh, a caramel frap with four shots and an almond croissant.” I sigh “You’re gonna get crumbs everywhere” I mumble before relaying the order. ‘Anything else?’ the cashier asks “No I think-”

“3 Happy Meals and a blue raspberry slushie” Jungkook says sticking his head between Jimin and I. “My God Kook, give me a heart attack why don’t you?” I turn back to the window “Can I have a moment please?” Jungkook lays his head on my shoulder “I want a slushie” he pouts “Kookie, we’re at Starbucks. Also, I don’t think you can get a slushie at McDonalds.” I gently pinch the bottom of his chin and he swats my hand away “And even if you could you’d most definitely throw it up within an hour of eating it.” He sighs at me “Why are you right all the time? It’s annoying.” He flops back against the seat which rouses Yoongi out of his slumber. 

“What’s happen?” He asks rubbing his eyes “Oh Yongo, what a way you have with words. The phrase is happening, what’s happening.” He flips me off and Jungkook repeats ‘Yongo’ while laughing “Good to know you’re a little more sober. We’re at Starbucks, Jiminie and I are getting caffeine injected straight into our veins and Kook wants a slushie. You are now caught up.” He looks at me like I’m speaking a different language “Get me a Nitro Cold Brew in the biggest size they’ll allow and uh… a strawberry scone.” He glances at Jimin and I swear his cheeks tint pink. 

“You got it, boss. Kookie I’m getting you the iced green tea latte and the blueberry and muesli yogurt bowl. Good?” I look at him in the rearview mirror and he smiles at me with his bunny teeth “It’s perfect, you’re perfect.” He says with a yawn.

I relay all of our order to the barista and negotiate Yoongi’s coffee up to a Venti with little trouble, the barista is a client from Sorry Moms. I hand Jimin the drink carrier and food bag and realize that he’s been quiet throughout that whole exchange. I grab this forearm and he looks at me and smiles. “Panicked just a little… again.” he whispers “I just realized we’re going back to their house. Apartment. Whatever.” He lets out a shaky breath. I squeeze his arm before letting go to focus on the road “You’ll be okay, you have me.” I realize that might be discounting his feelings a little, so I continue “But if you want you can take my car and I can catch an Uber to the studio.” He shakes his head “I have you.” 

I smile “Always.”

  
  


-

  
  


“For the love of God give me the keys, dammit!” I say pulling the keys out of Jungkook’s hand, who’s been trying to unlock the door for at least three minutes. “Tae!” Jimin and Yoongi say in unison, Yoongi looks at Jimin who shrinks in on himself a little “Don’t yell at the baby.” Jimin continues, standing on his tiptoes to cradle Jungkook’s head against himself as Yoongi continues to stare. “‘M not a baby” Jungkook says stumbling into the apartment and away from the clingy Jimin. “You’re always going to be our baby, Kook.” Yoongi says ruffling his hair on the way to the kitchen.

I plop myself down next to Jungkook sipping on my drink. He looks over at me wearily “Am I your baby?” he asks to which I snort, getting my drink all over myself. Jimin hands me a napkin and I wipe the coffee off my hands and face before putting my arm around the younger. “Of course you’re my baby. My Jungkookie.” I nuzzle my nose into the side of his head and he giggles. This boy is going to kill me one day. 

Yoongi comes back into the living room, still swaying as he walks; obviously still intoxicated. “So answers. Spare no details. Give them to me. No actually us, you woke Jimin up with your nonsense too.” I get up and guide an unhappy Yoongi to sit next to Jungkook, Jimin and I sit on the footstool directly in front of them. “So, start from the beginning.” 

Yoongi stares at us and takes a long drink from his coffee while Jungkook refuses to look up. “Well, I came home because the kid asked me to and when I got here he said he was moving out, I obviously had an issue with that. Things escalated, and the little shit punched me.” He drops his gaze to his hands on his cup, more specifically his bruised knuckles. “I ended up getting pissed off enough to hit him back, not my fucking best moment I’ll admit, but then he hit his forehead on the coffee table and it split and it really fucking freaked me out but he kept telling me he was fine. We stopped fighting after that. He told me a little more about why he was leaving... I still think it’s stupid and honestly, it makes me a little uncomfortable but he’s uh… He’s grown so he can make his own decisions. Anyways, we were talking it out when he turned his head and I saw all the blood and yeah… I called Namjoon. You know everything from there.” 

He clears his throat and fidgets with his sleeve. I nod “I said spare no detail, but that’s a start. Kook?” 

He looks up at me, his eyes a little glassy “Uh, what Yoongi said.” He looks back down at his lap. “Stop looking at me, Tae.” 

I sigh at him “Stop being pouty and just tell us what happened, how you felt. How you feel.” I plead with him, reaching out to take out one of his hands in my own. He looks up at me and squeezes my hand before pulling his hand away. “I need to move out. I got a promotion at work. I make a little more, thankfully. I haven’t told either of you, well hadn't until last night but my mom is sick. She has something called Pulmonary Hypertension. She’s stopped using a while ago but uh, I guess the damage was done. It’s like a disorder that destroys or blocks your.. what are they called… pulmonary somethings and capillaries, I think. I know it just makes it hard for the um… blood to flow through your lungs and it raises the pressure because of it I  guess.” 

His eyes are definitely glassy now and he clears his throat before continuing “As the pressure in there builds, one of her heart chambers has to work a lot harder to get the blood through her lungs so it weakens her heart, it could cause her heart to fail. The disorder in its early stages isn’t noticeable and even when she did start to notice something was wrong she didn’t do anything. It wasn’t until recently when we started communicating again that I finally convinced her to go to the doctor and he luckily knew what he was looking at.” He takes a deep breath before continuing “I’m paying for her to have the care she needs and uh, I know after my dad died she was, well useless as a mother but I love her and I need to make sure she’s okay until she’s… not.” Yoongi looks at him and lays his hand on his shoulder and gives a reassuring squeeze. 

“I don’t know. It really doesn’t matter, I can’t do anything about it. And I know it kind of doesn’t make sense for me to move out and give myself something else to pay for but, it’s important that I do it. By myself. For myself.” He sniffs and wipes a hand under his eye. 

“Oh, Kook. Oh, my Kookie. You beautiful idiot.” I shake my head at him and grab both of his hands. He looks up at me now “I know that I’m still kind of drunk- really still kind of drunk but I just told you some heavy shit and you're insulting me?” He looks like he’s almost offended which makes me laugh, just a little. “Don’t be daft, kid. I’m not insulting you, well not really. You’re obviously not an idiot. But you are one of the most idiotic smart people I’ve ever met.” He looks at me incredulously then looks at Yoongi for help but all he does is smile at us. 

“Kookie look at me.” He does “I’m calling you an idiot because you want to do this alone. Baby boy, you stopped doing stuff alone when your case file hit Namjoon’s desk. You are strong enough to do anything alone, you could probably take over a small country with minimal effort… But Kook, you don’t have to do anything alone. Let alone something this big.” He looks down at our hands “For example, every dentist is ‘the devil incarnate’ and Jin knows about that time you almost knocked one out so he goes with you, _every time_. When you got your first _and_ _second car_ Yoongi went with you because he knows pushy salesmen make you uncomfortable. Namjoon literally babies the hell out of you. I don’t know if you know about all of the little things he does because there’s a lot of them, but most importantly he connected you with Yoongi. Anytime a new comic book movie comes out Hobi books tickets for the two of you _a month_ out to make sure you guys have the best seats in the theater. When you started school and had that huge final project you ‘forgot’ about until the night before it was due, Jimin got up at _2 AM_ after pulling a double so you could take pictures of him dancing. And me, I mean we’re Taekook. I’d literally move heaven and earth for you, twice if you asked me to Kookie. I can’t really point out to you when I’ve personally been there for you, but you know how good of a team we are don’t you, Bun? We adopted you into our chosen family. And we’re a hot fucking mess on our best day but there’s a lot of love here. Don’t pull away from us just to take care of your mother, I mean Jin is a nurse for fuck's sake. He probably knows some things or knows people who know some things.” 

I sigh and look at Jimin who has tears in his eyes “ _ For the love of God” _ I say under my breath “Say something to the boy.” I nudge him with my shoulder. 

He clears his throat and tries to blink away the tears “Kook-” His voice cracks and he covers his face with his hand “My God, you broke me” He grumbles. I look to Yoongi who surprisingly has misty eyes as well “Yoongles?” He grunts before his eyes dart up to Jungkook for a second then back to the floor “Yeah, what Tae said.” 

I roll my eyes at him “I’m surrounded by children.” I look back to Jungkook who lifts his eyes to mine “I love you Tae, but did you just Ohana me?” I smile so hard it hurts “Jeon Jungkook! I just gave a beautiful and inspiring pep talk and you compare it the likes of _Lilo and Stitch_?” I gasp at him while he gives me his signature bunny smile “That’s the greatest compliment anyone has ever given me, thank you so much.” He lets out the loudest laugh while Yoongi and Jimin collectively groan.  

Yoongi stretches “I’m still too drunk for this.” We laugh at him “Same.” Jungkook adds after a second. We laugh some more. 

“Listen I get the arguing but why the fighting?” Jimin asks his voice back to normal. They seem to contemplate it for a second “Well for me, it wasn’t something I wanted to do. The little shit knows how to push my buttons and he was looking for a fight.” Yoongi responds but they only make eye contact for a second before both of them look away. “That’s not fair, Gramps. You were… being unnecessarily difficult.” 

“Oh, so Yoongi was being a dick? I’m so surprised.” I gasp in feigned shock and Yoongi kicks my shin “I was definitely looking for a fight though, I punched him.  _ Twice _ .” He says touching the bruise on his cheek. “You have more balls than anyone I’ve ever known, kid.” I say hitting his knee. Jungkook laughs “But honestly and you two aren’t going to like this, but I feel like us fighting... kind of helped. We would still be fuming at each other for days... Passive-aggressively eating leftovers-” 

“ _I knew you ate that fucking pizza, Jungkook! It was a gift! They flew it in from Italy!_ ” Yoongi yells at him. 

“Going into each others car and turning the volume all the way up so when they get in they shit themselves, buying crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth and pretending not to care about the difference, and my trump card; giving Holly a ball then going to spend the night at Hobi’s.” 

“Are you actually the _spawn of satan_?!” Yoongi yells at him. Jungkook shrugs “No, we’ve just lived together too long. I know how to get under your skin.” He shrugs again. “Namjoons right, you’re shrugging too much. Stop. Stop the shrugging. Anyways, the devil spawn is right. We resolved this quicker than we’ve solved any of our other arguments and it’s probably one of the most serious. I think anytime someone needs to solve an argument they should beat the shit out of each other.” He shrugs “Oh God it’s spreading!” He adds.

“I think you’re both idiots! I mean violence is-” 

“I get it.” I stop and gape at Jimin. 

“What the hell do you mean ‘you get it’?” He breathes at me “Tae I’m a pacifist, you know this. But I understand where they’re coming from. You’ve known me since we were like 9 or something, do you not remember that I used to box? When dealing with emotionally charged situations especially with people you love, especially when those emotions are mostly anger and hurt it’s easy for anger to win out and make you say and do things you don’t mean or want. So if you get rid of that anger physically then there’s no need for it in the conversation…” His eyes flick up to Yoongi then come back to meet mine “How do you still surprise me? What the shit, I would consider punching all of you in the face if I had to. To show I care.” Jimin laughs at me. 

“I didn’t exactly know how to put that in words but yeah, exactly that. Wow.” Yoongi says. Jimin looks up at him and smiles “I was an unhappy teenager with a lot of emotions and a gym pass. Now I’m an unhappy adult with a masters in English. It all adds up.” They both laugh and Jungkook and I share a look. I nod at him and he nods back. 

“Shit! I forgot I got oatmeal!” I jump up and go into the kitchen to get my food. I pop open the lid to test the temperature and feel that it’s cold. I mumble various cuss words to myself before popping it into the microwave. I check my phone for the first time since Namjoon called me this morning and other than forgetting to plug my phone in and a few Facebook and Instagram notifications, I only have one message.

[](https://ibb.co/c84Bud)

I laugh at Dawn, the man really does love the Office. I hit his contact info and wait for him to pick up the phone. He doesn’t.

[](https://ibb.co/hnZcZd)

I take another bite of my oatmeal with soggy blueberries and pocket my phone. I’ll deal with Dawn’s Voltron fueled rage later. 

I walk into the living room to find Yoongi and Jimin talking animatedly about something, with Kook looking overall unimpressed. I sit between Yoongi and Jungkook with my legs underneath me, leaning on his shoulder. “What’s going on?” I whisper to Jungkook. He shrugs the best he can with me leaning on him “I was looking at memes and then Jimin started yelling and Yoongi’s all gums, I don’t know. They couldn’t look at each other without turning into ketchup and now they’re best friends. Beats me.” I laugh a him “You really do shrug a lot when you’re drunk.” He raises his hand in a ‘what can you do’ motion “And they turn into ketchup? Like they blush? Red as a tomato?” I question turning to face him, my back now facing Yoongi. “Yeah, made sense when I was saying it.” He laughs at himself.

My phone buzzes for the 50th time since I text Dawn last so I put it on silent, he’ll get it all out in a few more dozen texts. “Who is it?” Jungkook asks. “Dawn. He thinks green is the best Voltron lion.” Jungkook scoffs “It’s obviously red!” He says “I’m not getting into this but I can tell you a thousand reasons why that’s not true. Anyways, he texts me to call him, then he didn’t answer, but I got ahold of him. The studio bumped our time again so here’s to me failing my midterm.” I raise a spoonful of oatmeal before sticking it in my mouth. 

“Excuse me, I’m sorry.” Jimin says holding a finger up to get Yoongi to stop talking “They bumped your time for the third time in a week in a half and you still pay them, why?” Yoongi seems to catch on to what’s happening and gets just as upset as Jimin. “Taehyung I can call down there and see what I can do-” Yoongi starts “Yoon I know you’re just trying to help but it seems like everyone in this damned city is a broke artist who has nowhere to work. I can’t afford to lose my place there and I would never forgive myself if I lost Dawns too.” I reach around Jungkook to put my half-eaten oatmeal on the side table.

“I was being dramatic when I said I’d fail. I’ll get everything done. It’s only … pieces.” Jimin cocks his head at me “What was that? How many?” I take a deep breath because I know what’s coming “10. 10 pieces.” Jimin props his head upon his hand “And how many do you have done? What’s your due date?” I grimace for a moment, he knows me too well “Eight, okay. And they’re due the week after next. I mean we’ve had 2 months but honestly, who gives love as the theme for a midterm? That’s the weakest shit I’ve ever heard in my life! What even is love? Hell if I know!” I start to feel cramped and anxious so I get up and walk a couple paces away “Are you happy, Jimin? Do you see what you’ve done to me?” 

“Taehyung, sit down.” Yoongi says plainly, which I ignore and continue pacing and fanning my face. “Tae! We can only have one person have an existential crisis in a 24 hour period.” Jimin scoots to the edge of the footstool so I can sit without being touched. 

“Listen to me kid, don’t cut me off when I’m speaking. I was saying that I know a few people who know people who own studios and would be more than happy to help Agustd out. A lot of people owe me favors.” He runs a hand down his face “And as far as the project itself, your professor just said simply love, yes?” I nod “Then it doesn’t have to be romantic love, dumbass. Love is everywhere, in all kinds of forms. Now that I promptly pulled your head out of your ass, you’ll knock those eight pieces out like they’re nothing.” He grabs my arm and gives it a squeeze before quickly letting go. 

“Thank you” Is all I manage to say.

I look at Jimin and you’d think actual heart emojis replaced his eyes with how fond he’s looking at Yoongi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Nitro Cold Brew actually isn’t served in anything above a grande (or medium) for the safety of the consumer. It has 280mg of caffeine in 16 oz when in comparison to soda and other energy drinks is A LOT. I learned a bunch about energy drinks so I’ll share below:  
> Coke: 39mg  
> Monster: 86mg  
> Red Bull: 148mg  
> Five Hour Energy: 200mg


	6. The One Where Jungkook Realizes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! A couple things you should know:
> 
> -Jiyong is Kwon Jiyong aka G-Dragon from Big Bang
> 
> Soojin and Kyu aren’t anyone famous.
> 
> -Seung-Hyun is Choi Seung-Hyun aka T.O.P from Big Bang
> 
> -Gyeomie is Kim Yugyeom from GOT7
> 
> -The people Kook and Yugyeom talk about in their texts are the people they work for.
> 
> Happy reading!

Jimin and Tae walk into my room as I kick my shoes off. “He’s so much different then I thought he’d be. I mean I know whenever you and Hobi would talk about him you’d say that he isn’t Agustd… That it’s only one small part of who he is but wow. I thought I was enamored with Agustd, well hello Min Yoongi.” I collapse on my bed as they take a seat on the bench at the end of my bed.

“Nuh, uh. Kook, take that shirt off there’s blood all over it.” I groan at him but sit up to do just that “I’ve never really seen the appeal to Agustd anyways, he’s pissed off all the time and yeah I mean his hair was pretty great around the time his first mixtape came out but there’s no compatibility between you two. No chemistry. Now you and Min Yoongi on the other hand? That’s a couple I can get behind.” I throw my shirt at Tae to which I get the reply of him flipping me off. Jimin thinks on what Tae said for a minute “I mean you don’t really think about how compatible you are with your favorite celebrities, so it’s different. I mean do you?” I grumble my answer into my pillow “If you’re going to be apart of this conversation, at least lay with your head down here.” I groan, but again, listen to Tae.

“I said, Harry Styles would date the shit out of me.” There was a beat of silence before they both cracked up. “Yeah love, I think he would.” Tae said with a laugh still in his voice “I don’t know if I personally do. It’s an odd question. I mean you obviously think about the ways you’re similar, I mean the things you have in common. If you didn’t you wouldn’t have a connection to this person you don’t know in the first place. Like Kookie and I found this guy on Instagram, shenronisanartist, and-” Jimin cocks his head to the side “Wait his name is Shenron? Where the hell is he from?” Tae and I laugh at him “No Chim, Shenron is a dragon from Dragon Ball Z. His name is Jiyong, dragon is apart of his name. He’s a clever man.” I nod “10 out of 10, would recommend.” Jimin laughs “Okay okay, I know not about Dragon Ball Z, continue speaking.” Jimin waves his hand while sipping his drink. “Anyways, he’s an artist and the coolest guy in the world. I mean he’s super eccentric and witty and has the cutest cat in the world.” Jimin gasps “Not cuter than our Cat.” Tae nods solemnly “Ah, yes my dear friend. Iye rivals our precious Cat.” Tae lifts his hand off his leg and starts to play with my hair “I still can’t believe you guys named the poor animal Cat. That’s his species, not a proper name.” I say as I bury my face further into the pillow “First of all how dare you, second Audrey Hepburn is a legend and magnificent human being and should be respected. Cat loves his name.” He pulls a piece of my hair and I grab at his hand “Again, as I was saying; he’s the cutest human on the planet.”

“Jimin is the cutest human. Everyone knows this. Jiyong is just… an enigma of adorable, hot, and weird all in one body.” I sigh. “What’s his user I gotta see this dude.” Jimin says grabbing his phone “shenronisanartist” Taehyung and I say at the same time. I look up at him and he rubs his thumb across his cheekbone smiling down at me. _God, I’m so in love with you_ , my brain says. I freeze and he sees me tense, immediately looking concerned “You okay?” _No idiot, I love you!_ “Uh, yeah. Gotta… uh, talk to Yoongi about the thing. the fridge… Be right back.” I jump out of bed and the whole world spins in front of my eyes and I manage to catch myself on the door “The hell? What about the fridge?” I lean my forehead on the doorframe willing myself not to throw up “Jungkook, are you okay?” I turn and give my best smile and a thumbs up and my heart aches. “I’ll um… yeah.” Tae looks at Jimin “What the fuck was that? He gave me a thumbs up?” Jimin just shrugs “Kook is weird, you know that. Holy shit, this guy is hot!”

I spare Jimin a small smile while running towards the Genius Lab. “Yoongi. Yoongi. Yoongi. Why the hell do you act like you’re guarding state secrets or something open the damn door!” I knock repetitively “Jesus Christ, kid. I just got in here to do some work.” He snarks as he swings open the door “And you know I wouldn’t disturb you unless there’s aliens, a new season of Game of Thrones, or an emergency.” His face softens “I’m guessing Winter Isn’t Here?” I shake my head. “Come in then.” I walk in and flop down in ‘my’ chair. By my chair, I mean a really ugly chair Yoongi hates but I fell in love with so he bought it so that when I’m home I can come just share the same space with him. Every time I sit in it it makes me want to cry.

“What’s going on Kook?” He sits on the couch on the other wall directly across from me “I- I don’t know. You’re right about everything. I love my tattoos, they’re me. But if I wasn’t getting them from Tae would I be getting them at all?” I look down at my bare skin, covered in ink and scarred by time. “Yoongi- I love him. Like I’m really actually in love with him.” He pats the seat next to him and so I move next to him “Kook listen, I didn’t mean what I said last night. But shit kid, you’ve been in love with him since you were an actual kid. You were like 15 or some shit, that’s nine years under your belt of straight rom-com type pining.” He rubs the side of his face with his hand “I’m going to tell you this truthfully because I know you’re going to ask or wonder at some point, I think he has feelings for you too but I don’t think he knows what those feelings are or uh, what they mean. Tae’s history isn’t simple family wise so he doesn’t trust easy and his history in dating is even worse so he doesn’t love easy. That being said you guys act like a couple all the time… It’s just he-” I raise my teary eyes to meet his. “I hate it. It hurts, Yoongi. It hurts to look at him.” Yoongi puts his hand on my shoulder like he always does when I’m upset. “I know it does. I love Tae, but you need to take care of yourself. You need to decide to either tell him or… you know, don’t. If it hurts you to be around him, then you shouldn’t. At the very least distance yourself, even if just a little, even if just for awhile… for your own sake.” I shake my head and start to stand “I don’t- he’s just..” I stumble over my words before I finally land on “I’ll try.”

Yoongi stands and puts both his hands on my shoulders “No matter what you do, know that you can come to me. I’m emotionally repressed but I have great taste in movies and junk food. Or you know you could go to Jin, you know he’s better with the advice stuff and could probably help you sort through some of this shit but that’s beside the point. Anyways, I love you. Go get some sleep.” He pulls me into a hug which I gladly return. “Night, Yoon.” I leave, shutting the door softly. An all too real sense of dread settles over me as I make my way back to my room. I’ve known that being so close to Tae and not telling him about my feelings would eventually catch up with me but I didn’t think it’d be now and I didn’t think the last straw would be something as trivial as this.

I hold my breath as I enter my room again and find them in relatively the same position as I left them in. Tae is sitting in the middle of my bed with his back against my headboard, Jimin still sitting on the bench but with his upper body draped over the end of the bed. “I still can’t believe it took you so long to meet him though. You’re best friends with two people who are practically his family. I mean I know him through Namjoon and got closer to him because he adopted this dork.” He waves me over and I indulge myself even if just for one more day. Blame it on the alcohol, blame it on the sleep deprivation, just… fuck it. I climb over him and lay my head on his lap. “But Hobi, I mean they go back to like middle school. He’s one of the Three Kings for Heaven’s sake.” Jimin shakes his head with a smile on his face “I have shitty friends, what can I say?” Tae starts stroking my hair again “Yeah fucking right, I tried and your shy ass dodged me at every turn.” Jimin makes an indignant noise “I am not shy! It just wasn’t the right time, that’s all.” A blush that would make a rose jealous breaks out over his cheeks “Bullshit.” I say with a yawn. Jimin smacks my leg “Watch yourself, kid.” Tae strokes my cheek with his thumb “Don’t hit my golden boy, he speaks the truth.” Jimin sighs “No that’s completely preposterous, I’ve never been shy in my life. Name one ti-” He stops “Eh, maybe you’re right.”

He stretches while laughing breathily “Man, I’m so freakin’ tired. What time is it?” I point at the clock on the nightstand that displays 8:04 “My shift at Cafe Diem doesn’t start for another four hours, so there’s no reason I can’t take a nap.” He rolls off the bed and walks to lay on the other side of Tae “Kook, I’m telling you now, I’m stealing your bed. It’s fucking massive and so comfortable. What kind of black magic is this?” Tae taps my temple and I make a sound of annoyance and decide to go ahead and just roll the other way to give them room. “No, Kookie I just want to lay down. Don’t go anywhere.” He nudges my shoulder until I flip back over. I know how he wants me to lay, I know how I want to lay, but that doesn’t mean that my heart can’t withstand actually laying that way. Nevertheless, as I always do with Taehyung, I follow along with what he says. As a wise man once said, I’m so fucking whipped. I lay on my back and he immediately flips over to lay his head in the crook of my neck and his arm across my chest.

“How are you liking it at Cafe Diem? Still missing your old place?” I ask Jimin quietly “Oh Kook, it was so much more than that though, Shot In The Dark Coffee House was so… it was... was home. I miss Soojin and Kyu a lot, you know? They were always so kind to me.” He’s quiet for a long moment “Anyways I really like the owner of Cafe Diem, his name is Seung-Hyun and he’s really stoic but still very sweet.” Jimin’s voice sounds sad and that grates on my ears. Jimin is the kind of person who should never be sad, unfortunately, though throughout his life there have been many things to make him so. I think because of both of those things you’d do anything in your power to keep him happy, to see him smile, to hear him laugh. “What were you and Yoon talking about earlier?” Tae asks turning his face towards mine a little so his voice won’t be muffled. “Ah, it’s silly. You know how he has that One Punch tattoo of uh, Saitama on his arm?” I grunt in agreement “Yeah, Kookie gave that to him in my old living room.” Tae adds to which Jimin pulls a sour face at “In your living room? That’s so unsanitary.” Jimin falls silent for a moment “Anyways, I told him about this one time when Hobi described him as being Saitama with loud hair and a cute dog. He said that was accurate. Then we talked about anime.” Jimin talks with an airy tone and it makes me smile. Tae raises up on his elbow to look at Jimin “You had a meet-cute! I thought those two dummies cheated you out of a good story to tell your future children but now you can tell them that their dads fell in love while being total weebs.” I make an inhuman noise and laugh so hard my eyes water “Taehyung! What the fuck? I’m not a weeaboo and double what the fuck, future children? I’ve met the man once and you’re marrying me off? Eager to get me out of the apartment?” Jimin all but squeaks “Well you know, as a single parent I have been waiting for you to leave the nest to start dating…” I realize after hearing this exactly the position I’ve gotten myself in. Yoongi tells me to distance myself and I literally get as close as possible to the man, I always do like doing the opposite of what Yoongi tells me to do. This is an impossible situation, this man has been so important to me, so integral to the way I live my life since I was 15… I don’t have anyone else. Anyone else like him that is. Man, I never knew how painful just the thought of leaving him could be. And somehow my mind drifts to Yugyeom, I should’ve been there for him more when he and Bam broke it off… he’s always been there for me.

I sit up straight tossling a very unhappy Taehyung “Damn it! Speaking of Yugyeom, I worked today. I mean, I should’ve. I mean I was supposed to.” Tae throws a glance at Jimin “Speaking of Yugyeom?” I wave him off while I fumble with my phone “Thinking of Yugyeom. I meant thinking.” I don’t have any messages from him which either means he covered for me or he’s on his way to kill me. Better check just to be sure which it is. “ _Oooh Kookie’s, got a boyfriend_ ” Jimin sings.

I throw an unimpressed look at him before looking back at my phone.

 [](https://ibb.co/mUTCzo)

I toss my phone haphazardly on the nightstand and fall back on the bed. Tae takes back his position on my chest “What about Yugyeom?” He asks in a voice that’s almost a whisper “It’s nothing. Covered for me at work. Made some movie plans.” Taehyung repositions his head so his nose is centimeters from my cheek. “What kind of movie plans?” He eggs on “Should I be worried about him trying to steal you away from me?” I let out a soft sigh if only he knew. Jimin comes to my rescue “Tae leave the poor Bun alone. Let him frolick with his boy toy in peace so I can sleep.” Tae continues looking at me when I don’t protest at Jimin’s words for a few more moments and then digs his head further into the crook of my neck.

I drift to sleep thinking if it’s possible to steal someone that isn’t truly yours.

 


	7. The One Where They Go To Cafe Grumpy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things to know:
> 
> •Finally Hobi is here!
> 
> •Junhong is Choi Junhong aka Zelo from BAP
> 
> •Cafe Grumpy is a real place and I mean no disrespect to the actual establishment. 
> 
> •Rose and Carolina are no one famous, they're inspired by Harry Styles album. Idk, man.
> 
> •Lottsa foul language
> 
> •Grade A awkward Yoonmin fluff

I turn off my car and get ready to face the cold. Who decided winter was something we needed every year? Cold is only useful when it’s snowing, I scoff in passing as I step out of the car. I nuzzle further down into my scarf and pull my coat tight around myself as I all but run across the street to the door of the cafe. I walk into see the familiar faces of my regulars, Rose and Carolina. I smile at them softly. I’ve gotten to know them well over the few months I’ve worked here. It’s been a privilege seeing them interact with each other, I really think if true love looks like anything it’s them.

“How’s the packing going ladies?” I ask hanging up my coat. Their bright smiles dim but don’t disappear “It’s almost finished now, darling.” Rose says taking a drink of her tea. “Jimin dear, what are you going to do for entertainment without us around? Your life is going to be so bland.” Carolina sighs in the most dramatic manner. “I’ll just have to put on a brave face, make it through day by day.” We laugh “We’ll miss you terribly, though. You brighten our lives, don’t you know?” My heart melts, these two really are the sweetest. “And you, mine. But it’s only seven months, I’ll see you again in June.” I say and they both murmur in agreeance and I excuse myself to make my way to the back. Sleeping those three mere hours was definitely not enough to shake the haze that’s hanging over me. God, it’s going to be a long day.

-

I slump into one of the secluded nooks in the back of the cafe and pray that no one interacts with me for the duration of my break. When going on minimal sleep whilst working in a cafe that’s considered an over average amount of popular during breakfast and lunch you figure, _eh it’s gonna be a crap day_. But sweet mother of God this has been the busiest and most stressful day of my entire career as a barista. Okay, so I’ve only been a barista for like three months but I digress. Customers are assholes in most outlets of the service industry but customers fiending for caffeine are demons. I rest my head on my arms that are folded in front of me on the table, I’ll just rest here for half an hour and be ready to tackle the next… I check my watch, 10 more hours. Screw double shifts, screw coffee, and most of all screw student loans. My phone vibrates in my back pocket causing me to jump and hit my elbow. I take a moment to allow my soul to come back to my body before checking who text me. “Hobi what the hell” I murmur to myself as I open the message.

[](https://ibb.co/jRPQUy)

I laugh the situation Hobi’s created and I vaguely wonder if I’d think it was this funny if I was more awake. Honestly what’s the chance of not one of the people I know who know Min Yoongi introducing me to him today but _two_? Honestly what kind of fanfiction bullshit am I living? I lay my head back down on arms and pray for a swift death.

-

“Oh! Yoongi, I found him. Jiminie. Jimin.” Someone pokes my arm and I bolt straight up “Ah! Ah! Fucks sake! You startled me!” My eyes leave Hoseok’s apologetic looking face and find an awkward looking Yoongi lingering at the entrance of the nook. “Are you sleeping on the job?” Hobi asks before following my eyes to Yoongi “Yoon get over here!” I scoot around the C shaped booth so all three of us can fit in the small space. “No! Of course not. Sleep is for the weak, I’ll sleep when I’m dead. ‘Sides I have bills to pay.” I say with a yawn, so it’s not very convincing.“It’s just, I stayed up to late last night after practice working on this paper and then uh,” My tired eyes flick over to Yoongi who immediately looks away “Tae needed me this morning-” Hoseok raises an eyebrow “By Tae do you mean Rocky and Ivan Drago?” I stop and wrack my brain “Who the hell is Ivan Drago?” He rolls his eyes at me “so anyways I got like max three and a half hours of sleep last night.” Hobi looks at me with a furrowed brow “You promised me that you’d eat something and go straight to bed last night. Have you taken to lying to me Park Jimin?” I narrow my eyes at him “I resent that Hoseok. I’m an angel, I’d never lie to you. ‘Cause technically did eat and go to bed last night just not in the time frame… you… wanted…” I look down at my hands.

I hear Hobi sigh “Jiminie, you’ve left me no choice. I have to break out the voice.” I snap my eyes up to his, his face now serious “You work too long, study too often, and practice much to be doing things like this. I know this is your reality and you have to work double shifts like this to survive but your health is number one, you got it? You have people to help you now so let them.” I nod and can’t seem to force myself to make eye contact with him. I don’t know Yoongi well enough for this to be talked about in front of him. If Hobi wants to lecture me he can do it later. “Oh also, I’m telling Jin you aren’t taking care of yourself.” I gasp at him, finally looking up “You wouldn’t dare.” He narrows his eyes at me. “Try me.”

“Oh! Jimin! Since you probably didn’t properly get introduced earlier today; Park Jiminie this is Min Yoongi, Min Yoongi this is Park Jiminie.” I roll my eyes “Jimin. My name is Jimin.” I extend my hand towards him and he looks at it for a moment before taking it. “Yoongi.” Hoseok makes a sound of disapproval “Jimin you have like a thousand nicknames. Embrace them.” I roll my eyes but Hobi continues looking between us smiling. “So Jimin is a fan of your music. Ain’t that something?” Yoongi looks at Hoseok quickly before slowly raking his eyes over my face. I settle more into my turtleneck as my cheeks feel as if they’re on fire “Ah, yeah. I’ve listened to it, you for um, like six years? Good. You’re good. I mean it- it’s good. Good stuff.” I slowly talk quieter until the sound of Hobi’s muffled laughter is louder than my talking. I look up at Yoongi to see his cheeks are heavily dusted red “Thank uh, thanks.” I glance at my watch five more minutes.

“Okay I gotta know. Is the cafe you went to actually called Cafe Grumpy?” Yoongi laughs and nods vigorously “I can show you” He pulls out his phone as Hoseok sulks “Jungkook took this the last time we went together.”

[](https://ibb.co/b82hbd)

“It’s a really cute place, Hobi just doesn’t like the atmosphere. Which I will say there’s a lot of hipsters and it’s a _‘laptop free cafe’_ like whoever fucking heard of that? And they close so early. Like if I need coffee at one AM I should be able to walk in and get it.” Yoongi almost pouts and it’s so fucking cute. “You don’t seem to like it much either.” I laugh “I suppose not” he laughs too. “Well if you need coffee at one AM, we’re open until two so you can come see me. I’ve got your back.” As soon as the words leave my mouth my cheeks heat. I don’t regret saying it, but the look on Hobi’s face and the blush on Yoongi's face moving up to his ears makes it hard to hold my ground. Yoongi clears his throat and we lock eyes “Noted.”

I look at my watch, breaks over. “Darling, are you back on the clock? I need more chamomile tea.” Rose calls from their table in the front. “For you? Of course.” I say with a smile, standing and stretching my aching muscles. “I have to get back to work… Do you want something?” I ask pulling on the cuffs of my sweater. “I’ll have a latte that is emotionally neutral,” Hobi says folding his hands on top of each other. Yoongi rolls his eyes “I’ll just have a black coffee in your strongest roast.” We make quick eye contact again before I assure them it’ll be over in just a minute. This is indeed the longest fucking day.

-

“Tell me something Hoseok, do you enjoy making your close friends uncomfortable or is it just something that happens naturally for you?” I ask glancing towards the front of the cafe. “Ah, my closest friend, my rock, the yin to my yang, the Eraser Head to my Present Mic; of course I enjoy it. But I would say I was born with the natural talent.” He smiles cheekily at me. “I had to hear Jungkook go on for half an hour before you called, about how I should ask him out because we watch the same anime. I don’t need the same shit from you so don’t even think about it. Sure, the kid is cute but you know romance is for the naive. I don’t think most humans are emotionally capable of something, an idea, as grand as that.” Hoseok slumps down into the seat “My God Yoongi, we get it. Love is dead. Destiny and fate is nothing but a lie that humans created to comfort themselves and feel like they have control or some shit. I tune you out when you’re spouting off about all of that.” I hang my head a little “Actually that’s time, destiny is compl-” He gives me a pointed look so I stop talking “Whatever the fuck, it doesn’t matter. The point is, I’m not saying get into a long-term relationship right now but I think you and Jimin would really enjoy spending time together. Make friends, Yoongi” He holds his hands up in a placating manner “That’s all I’m saying.” Jimin walks over then carrying a large mug “Sorry your drink is taking so long Hobi, Rose cornered me about taking her cat again.” He says with a sheepish smile. Hoseok assures him it’s fine as he quickly walks back behind the counter.

“The coffee here is amazing, Jimin’s brings me some for before practice. As Jungkookie would say ‘10/10 would recommend’” Hoseok says while I put two spoonfuls of sugar in my coffee, he’s still absentmindedly scrolling through his phone. I take a drink and am blown away by the quality of the coffee. People often tend to try to hide the sharp, crisp acidity of coffee but it’s something that’s highlighted in this blend. This is probably the best coffee I’ve had in years. “Wow this is re-“

“Damn it!” There’s clattering from the front “Shit!” More metal scraping on metal “Why fucking me?” Is said loud enough for all the cafe to hear, thankfully it’s just the older ladies in the front, a worried looking girl lingering by the counter, and Hobi and I. Jimin appears looking frazzled holding another mug. “Um, Hobi. Hoseok I kind of…” He steels himself “Hope, I accidentally put a dick in your coffee.” I choke on the mouthful of coffee I had in my mouth while Hoseok makes a squeaking noise. “Jimin, rephrase.” Hobi says mixed with squeaky laughter. Jimin sets down the cup and very angrily motions to the cup. “There’s a penis in your mug! Uh, listen I was not made to be a barista! I’ve tried to learn to do those cute little latte art things but it’s bullshit! People who do that aren’t human. I let Jungkook try once and he made this cute face and I literally _attacked_ him! Taehyung had to pull me off, because I mean just how? He watched a YouTube video and _voila_ perfection. He’s the antichrist! I have fucking nightmares about foam and espresso.” I’m still trying to get the liquid out of his lungs as Hobi can barely breathe through the fits of laughter.

“I need to hit something, or even better someone.” My eyes widen at Jimin’s words, he looks too sweet and gentle to say something like that. Never judge a book by its cover, I guess. Jimin looks at me “You had the right idea, I don’t know why I ever stopped boxing.” I take a deep breath and sigh, might as well go for it to shut everyone up, “Hey I go to this gym sometimes, it’s nothing special but if you ever want to-” Someone walks in the front door and Jimin immediately turns all attention to him “I’m sorry Yoongi, that’s the boss man. Better go pretend I’m busy.” He says with a small smile.

Hoseok clears his throat after Jimin’s gone “Did you just try to-” I raise my hand towards him “Nope. Stop right there.” He wipes away a fake tear “I’m just so proud of you. You actually took my advice for once! I mean it kind of got dashed because Jimin’s total fox of a boss stole him away but, I mean can you blame him? His boss is like a six foot, trim, mysterious Adonis. When I met him once, when Jiminie was getting interviewed, he had gray or white hair and now it’s blue and he looks like Jack Frost’s older hunkier brother. Ah…” His eyes were dreamy for a second “What was I talking about? Oh yeah! I was saying, it’s the thought that counts.” Hobi pats my shoulder solemnly. “Stop now or I’ll tell Junhong that you have a thing for Jimin’s boss.” Hobi opens and closes his mouth a few times and then just narrows his eyes at me and mutters a “Well played.” I lean back in the cushioned seat and warm my hands on the mug. What the hell was I thinking?

“I have to post this on Instagram. Oh my God.” Hobi says back in a fit of giggles.

[](https://ibb.co/fT6KNJ)

Hoseok’s laughing eventually quiets enough he can drink his coffee, but every now and then he looks into his mug and giggles. He looks at his watch now and curses “I have to get back to the studio. I started teaching a beginner course and literally forgot about its existence until this very moment.” He rubs the back of his neck “Jesus Seokie, why are you like this?” Hobi takes one last sip of his latte “Honestly it’s a talent.” He smiles at me “Do you want me to get these?” He motions at our drinks and I shake my head “No, my treat. Take it as my apology for taking you to Cafe Grumpy.” I say with a little bit too much of playful lilt in my voice. “I get the feeling that that apology isn’t genuine.” He eyes me before his watch dings, pulling his attention “Shit, Junhong is going to kill me. I gotta go.” He grabs his coat that’s hanging on the rack in the corner and waves behind him as he shouts a goodbye to Jimin.

Jimin comes back over to the table not ten minutes later carrying a pot of coffee and a slip of paper. “Do you want a refill?” He asks quietly. “Uh, I actually have to be getting back…” Jimin nods and lays the paper down on the table “Hobi said you were getting both drinks so uh… I put both on there...” He turns to walk away and I feel the need to talk to him more “Uh, Jimin.” He turns back to face me, his eyes wide “I wouldn’t mind having a cup to go. It’s just um, your coffee is really good.” Jimin’s face breaks open into a smile so big his eyes all but disappear “Yeah, I can do that! Of course! It’s supposed to be extra but considering you’re a… friend of a friend?” He laughs at himself “I’ll let it slide.” I nod at him and he hurries behind the counter. I glance at the reciept, 10.47. Not bad for coffee this good. I pull out a 20 and lay it on the table. As I’m shrugging on my jacket Jimin comes back with my coffee “I didn’t know how you took it, so I’m sorry if it’s bad.” He smiles at me with pink cheeks “I’m sure it’s fine. You know what they say, all coffee is good coffee.” Ah crap. What the fuck does that even mean Yoongi? Who are ‘they’? For the love of God a cute boy is nice to you and you start spouting nonsense like that? Jimin’s face sours “I can tell you that’s not true. I’ve made plenty of coffee that was lethal to all living beings.” He laughs again. _Damn, that laugh._

I pull my scarf tighter around my neck and Jimin holds out my coffee, which I take tentatively. _His hands._ His small, cute, little hands steal my attention for a good second before I realize I zoned him out. “-and yeah. You should check it out.” I rub the back of my neck “I'm sorry can you repeat that?” He lets out a breathy laugh “I said the receipt has a survey on the back about your service and what not and it also has a little scratch off thing to see if you win our prize of the month which is four tickets to that Christmas Towne thing they’re having in a couple months and two tickets to the drive in… and yeah. You should check it out.” There’s a blush across Jimin’s cheeks again that makes me just nod along and grab the slip of paper off the table and stuff it in my pocket “Yeah definitely. I mean, I will.” The bell on the door rings so Jimin looks over his shoulder “Okay, I’ll leave you alone now. Uh, I guess I’ll see you around, Min Yoongi.” I can't help but smile at this man “Yeah, see you around Park Jimin.”

He gives a short wave and walks to the front greeting the customer warmly. I walk out of the cafe sparing him one last glance, he’s focused on making an elderly man’s drink. I don’t think I’ve had a crush since I was a kid, _but I think I have one on Park Jimin._

I slump into my car and think of the implications of this and pull out the small slip of paper to find indeed there’s a scratch off on the back, I’m a loser according to the ticket which figures, but there’s also writing in small neat handwriting _‘Tell me more about that gym sometime. +1-202-555-0102 -Jimin’_ I stare at the letters like they’ll change or disappear at any moment. This is something I really didn’t expect, I don’t date. Hell, I don’t even socialize period. I don’t do the whole flirting thing. But nevertheless here I am a full blush on my face, my heart beating out of my chest, because a cute boy gave me his number.

_What the actual fuck._


	8. The One With The Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> •I hope I did E’Dawn and Yugyeom justice, I’m not as familiar with them as I am with BTS.
> 
> Enjoy!

{ Jungkook }

A bang startles me awake, I stretch my cramped neck to see Holly running across my room and up onto the bed. She comes and lays by my side “Well hello to you too, Satan.” I look over at my clock and am presently surprised I didn’t sleep until the next morning. I pat Holly’s head a couple times before I lean over her and grab my phone.  
[](https://imgbb.com/)  
I laugh at this wonderful ridiculous boy, and a sense of fullness fills my chest until my conversation with Yoongi comes crashing down on my tired mind. I do my best to shake it off and exit off that message and flip to the next notification  
[](https://ibb.co/cjHDGy)  
I smile fondly at my friend, we’ve both been on hard times financially and emotionally recently… It’s nice to be around him because we don’t have to talk about why we’re upset, we just acknowledge each other’s pain and comfort one another to the best way we know how.  
[](https://ibb.co/gYAYGy)  
I sit up in bed and crack my neck. Seems like no matter how hard I try, my mind seems my mind wanders to Taehyung. I wonder when I’ll see him next… Maybe the only time I should see him is at Namjin’s dinners. That’s smart. Sensible. I don’t like it at all.

-

{ Taehyung }

“Honey, I’m home!” I say, all but flinging the shops' door open. “And what do you call this hour?” Dawn says checking his non-existent watch, sitting up from where he was laying on the shops couch with his head in Hui’s lap. “Stopped and got us coffee. Hui, I figured you’d be here so I brought you a hot chocolate.” He takes it graciously “You’re actually the best, my dear Tae.” He pinches my cheek and I wave off his hand.   
Dawn makes grabby hands at me “Gimme gimme gimme” I sigh and hand him his drink “You could at least compliment me like your better half, or you know, actually say thank you?” I snark at his amused face as I walk toward the back room. He follows behind me “What fun would that be?” I put my bag down and take off my coat as he sits in the office chair and kicks his feet up.  
“You kind of look like crap, what happened to you?” He asks taking a sip of his drink, to which I roll my eyes “Has anyone ever told you, Hyojong, that your kind of a pain in the ass?” I sit in the chair across from the desk and wonder if I wish hard enough when I open my eyes, I’ll have been reborn a millionaire. “Wow, that is hurtful. What actually happened to you to get you in such a bad mood?” I look up at him and groan, he’s trying to be a good friend.   
I shake my head, “Nothing happened to me, well I mean I lost some sleep, which I mean I guess answers your question…” I take a breath “But long and tiring story fucking short Kookie and Yoongi fought last night then made up and got drunk and had to be taken to Jin to get patched up but Namjin is fucking adultly adults so they have responsibilities and places to be so Jimin and I went and got them. They were still pretty smashed so that was fun. Then we talked about some heavy shit, always love that when half the people haven’t slept and the other half, haven’t slept and are totally wasted.” Saying everything that happened just made me twice as tired “Okay, two questions.” I nod. “One, what is an adulty adult? And two, how do I become one?” There’s a long silence before a just break. I laugh, I laugh until my sides hurt and my eyes water. Dawn is looking at me with a pleased smile “Thank you… I needed that.” He nods “It’s what I’m here for.” He takes his feet off the desk and starts to shuffle the papers on the desk around. “It’s pretty slow night, I have four appointments and you had three.” I cock my head at him “Had?” Dawn finally makes it to the planner under everything and looks at today’s date. “Yeah, you had three but Jungkook called like half an hour ago and booked you for… looks like 15 minutes? What is he gonna get in fifteen minutes?” Tae shrugs “If he thinks he’s coming in here to have me tattoo ‘BIG’ on his big toe, he has another thing coming.” I walk back into the showroom as Dawn yells something about respecting the customer's individuality. 

-

{ Jungkook }

I’ve decided it’s the weirdest thing being depressed; it’s not just that you’re sad or you feel run down, it’s like there’s a fog over you. Even when you’re with someone you love or doing something you really enjoy, it’s like it’s tainted. It’s hard to understand if you haven’t experienced it, but the best way I can, the way I feel it is; when I was very young I dropped my mother’s hair band into a pool we frequently visited. And because of my age, I figured I could just bend down and pick it up. I didn’t realize I would fall into the water, I didn’t realize how far down I would fall, I didn’t realize I wouldn’t be able to breathe, and I certainly didn’t realize how terrifying and dull the world could be at the same time. So I don’t think depression is like drowning; it’s the knowledge everything is going to go to shit and not being able to do anything about it, it’s the split second before everything goes to shit, the realization that everything is indeed shit, and the feeling that it’s always going to be shit.   
“You’ve got no class, my friend. Pikachu will always be the best starter hands down.” Yugyeom shakes his head, “You’re underestimating grass types. Bulbasaur can hold his own.” I snort at him “How? He’s a fucking head of lettuce!” Yugyeom almost spits out the drink of red bull. I sigh and stretch out on Yugyeom’s couch a little more.   
“Why do you keep doing that?” He asks eyeing me from the other end of the couch. “Doing what?” He sighs at my confusion “Kooks, it’s hard to explain but like every time you smile it only goes a layer deep, it doesn’t hit your core. Hell, how do I explain this… Okay, so every time you laugh, it’s like as soon as you turn away, it’s gone. Whatever happiness you had inside you just vanishes. Your happiness lately it’s… I don’t know man, it’s fleeting.” He rubs a hand up and down the side of his face a couple times, obviously troubled. “This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed it, but it’s gotten so much worse. Talk to me, man. I know that’s not what we usually do but I’m worried.” I sigh at him and I see his worry lean a little into aggravation.   
“Gyeom. I’m fine, really. It’s nothing I haven’t been dealing with for years. You have nothing to worry about. I’m fine.” I look back at the tv and say once more to myself than Yugyeom “I’m fine.” He suddenly gets up from the couch and starts pacing in front of the couch “You just did the thing. Ah, God, you did the thing.” He rubs his face so hard it has to be painful “How bad is it?” He asks pausing directly in front of the tv so I have to look at him “I did what? How bad is what? What the fuck are you talking about, Yugyeom?” My voice is loud and weak at the same time, how did that happen? Yugyeom’s eyes widen and he walks across the span of the room to sit in the recliner, the furthest seat from me. “So really fucking bad then, huh? With how compartmentalized you keep everything it’s no surprise you didn’t know how upset you are-” I groan at him “I’m not upset, Gyeomie.” I say with a steady voice, thank God for that. “The question is why. I mean you always have a lot of shit going on but this is a certain type of upset.” He looks at me, appraisingly. I look at him, unimpressed. He comes and sits in the armchair closest to me “Okay, I’m going to ask one more time. Jungkook, are you okay?” I roll my eyes at him “Yes Yugyeom! I’m fine! I’m physically fine, I’m mentally fine, I’m even fucking spiritually fine! I’m good, I’m fine.” My voice has taken the shrill tone again but I can’t find it within myself to care, my annoyance at the situation is growing. Fast.   
“Fuck.” He breathes and I hit his arm “What the hell is up with you?” Yugyeom looks up at me almost like he’s going to cry.   
“Do you remember when you broke your leg?” The sudden change in topics takes me off guard so it takes me a beat before I respond “Yeah. I mean kind of, I was in a lot of pain so I think I kind of repressed those memories” I say with a laugh in my voice.  
“I remember. I remember telling you that you were an idiot before you tried to jump the pool on your bike and I remember telling you again afterward with your blood all over me. The funny thing is, at first I don’t think you even realized what happened because you jumped up like nothing happened. You didn’t realize that you were hurt until you saw me running to you crying. You wanna know what you said to me?” Yugyeom is looking down at the carpet with something in his voice that worries me “Yeah.” I say in a whisper that still feels almost too loud “You looked at your broken leg then back at me and said ‘Hey, I’m fine. Stop crying Gyeomie, I’m fine. This is nothing, I’m totally fine.’”   
He looks up at me, his eyes definitely glossier than normal “You had a bone sticking out of your fucking leg and blood dripping onto the concrete around you and you were assuring me. By the time I got back with my dad you were crying but you still took my hand and told me hell, at least 100 more times on the way to the hospital you were fine and I needed to cheer up.” I try to process this information but I don't think I like where this is going “We were little kids, I don’t see how this is- and you’re like a little brother to me. Of course, I’m going to try to make you feel better.” Yugyeom shakes his head almost like he’s disappointed. “Kooks, the only other time you’ve gone into this perpetual state of ‘I’m fine’ is… is after Gramps died.” I just look at him “I was close to him, yes, but Jungkook once again something traumatic happened to you and you were trying to assure everyone else.” Yugyeom takes a moment and then sighs “So I guess the real and only question is what traumatic thing has happened to you lately?”  
I honestly don’t know how to respond to him. I can’t say that he’s wrong, in both of those instances I remember comforting other people more than trying to sort through how I felt about the situation. It doesn’t mean I like it though. I lean my head back on the cushion on the couch and I can feel his eyes burning holes into my skin. “Stop acting like I’m going to spontaneously combust.” He looks away then, I can feel the annoyance radiating off of him. “I’m not brushing you off Gyeom. I just don’t know what’s wrong. My moms sick? She’s been that way for a long time, so unlikely. I’m unhappy in my job, but honestly who isn’t? I take enough photos in my spare time to satisfy me, so again unlikely. I’m moving out of Yoongi’s place? I finally told him so that’s a weight off but he’s my family, he took me in when we were both so young, I love him more than anything. He’s some of my only family and I’m leaving him, so that may be it.” Yugyeom leans back in the chair “I don’t think so… I think you’re missing something.” I roll my head his direction and find he’s already looking at me, I can practically hear him begging me to get his point. “What am I missing?” He rolls his eyes and looks at the ceiling “Not what, who.”   
Ah, Taehyung. Figures I guess, it always seems to begin and end with him. “I’m so tired, Gyeomie.” I say in a small voice. “I know, man. But the only way to fix this, to get rid of this … this… shit that’s hanging over you and this fog that’s attached itself to you is to tell him.” He sits up and rests his head in his hands “I mean think of it this way, you really only have two options. One, you can either tell him. He’ll either have two reactions: you guys ride off into the sunset or you make things weird and you’re not as close anymore.” I give him a look “Or two, you don’t tell him. Which causes one of two things: you torture yourself by being with him but not being with him or you pull away and put as much distance as you can bear and he eventually notices and wonders what he did to make you do it.” I gape at him and realize that’s probably that’s probably the most practical and wisest thing he’s ever said to me. “Has anyone ever told you that you give good advice?” He smiles then, and I realize how thankful I am for my best friend. “So pick your poison.” I give him a small smile “I’m kind of in the mood to self-destruct. How ‘bout it?”

-

I pull into a parking spot a ways away from the shop and pull off my helmet. Fuck its cold. On nights like these; when the cold seems to seep down all the way to the core of you, to your soul, it’s like the cold stops time. Freezes over all your problems and washes away all the noise of the outside world. And tonight I’m thankful for the distraction from the inevitable demise of my love and friendship with the best person in the world. I swing my leg off my bike, let’s get this over with.  
I steel myself as I push open the door, and find Hui at the front counter reading. “Hi Kookie, Tae’s in the back. He and Dawn started yelling at each other because... “ He looks up at me then “Honestly I don’t know, I grading papers when they started and they annoyed me so I made them go back there.” He smiles at me then takes his focus back on his book. “Thanks, Hui.” I walk towards the sound of enthusiastic voices and I can’t help but feel like every step is sealing my fate. Every step I’m farther away from where I want to be. I shake those thoughts, they’ll only hinder the progress of this.  
I walk into see Dawn and Tae yelling at each other and to the untrained eye you’d think that they were actually fighting, but alas they’re both just loud and passionate. They spot me and stop yelling “Kookie! My dear, my love-” Tae greets me, pulling down onto a chair and my heart aches “Riddle me this, can you feel air going into your lungs?” He tries to continue talking but Dawn stops him saying that by throwing their opinions at me would make me biased. “Um… no?” Tae exclaims and points in Dawn's face “I fucking told you!” Dawn straight face looks at me “What’s your reasoning?” I hum considering “Well I mean, I think we can feel it going down our throat but we can’t feel it going into and filling our lungs. I mean it’s kind of similar to how we can feel our food go down but we can feel it in our stomach.” They both just look at me “Damn, that’s a pretty solid argument. I’m swayed.” Dawn says and retreats to the front of the shop. Tae laughs and claps “You’re a philosophical badass, Kook!” He says nudging my legs so he can sit on the chair. “That doesn’t have anything to do with philosophy.” I say but Tae just shrugs “Doesn’t mean you aren’t one.” I giggle at him.   
“So anyway, what do you want to get tonight?” He asks eyes wide and man, I swear they’re sparkling. “Right. That.” I clear my throat “Uh actually it’s gonna be more of a consolation, there’s something I want but you may not like it so we need to talk it out.” Tae takes on his work demeanor, focused and more reserved. “Okay, lay it on me.” He says simply. “Well, uh. Okay, Tae this is a long time coming but I’m a fucking coward and afraid of change and feelings so it’s taken me six years for me to say three words. It’s not like I haven’t felt them all this time I just haven’t been able to tell you, which is ridiculous because you’re the person I tell everything to. You’re my person. Your person is Jimin and I accept that because I know you’re actually two halves of the same whole” I laugh and realize it’s quiet. Deadly quiet and I’m not a strong enough person to look up at him. “ You’re my person though and I’ve kept a life-changing secret from you for six years. And I’m sorry. I love you and I’m sorry.”   
I try to calm my breathing but I feel a panic attack right on the horizon. “Kook.” A cold slender hand tilts my chin up so I have to look at him. “What are you saying?” He asks in a voice too calm. “I’m in love with you.” I say in a voice that I can barely hear. He face contorts into something that almost looks like pain? Disappointment? Damn it, I’ve made a mistake. “Jungkook, you don’t know what you’re saying. You aren’t in love with me.” I scoot away from him as much as I can “How can you know? You don’t- You couldn’t- You can’t just-” Tae holds the tips of his fingers to my mouth “Kookie it’s okay. You’re just a little confused. Us as.. Us as a couple, it doesn’t add up. I mean we grew up together, you can’t love me. And more than that, I don’t think of you that way. I’m sorry.” Yeah, that panic attack is now front in center. “I see. Thanks for clearing things up for me.” I clear my throat again, why does it feel like I’m swallowing gravel? “Uh, well I was hanging out with Yugyeom so I better get back to him.” Tae nods before taking his hand and brushing his thumb on the ball of my cheek. “Be safe, Bun.” I nod and turn quickly before my body can betray me.   
I mumble a goodbye to Hui and Dawn on the way out and as soon as I'm at my bike I break. Every emotion comes tumbling out in the form of unrelenting, hard and ugly sobs. I take out my phone and navigate with great difficulty to Yoongi’s contact. You have to realize, we’re both very awkward people so we hate talking on the phone, so it happens very rarely that we talk to each other. It rings once before Yoongi picks up.   
“Kook, you okay?” I inhale hard and choke on a sob. “Yoon- Yoongi.” There’s shuffling “Jungkook what happened? Are you okay? Where are you?” I try my best to swallow around the football-sized knot in my throat “I t-told him. I told him h-how I feel and he said I was confused and that I c-couldn’t love him.” Yoongi sighs heavily “Kookie, where are you?” His voice is soft and it makes me miss my childhood “Parking lot. I h-have my bike.” There’s clatter on Yoongi’s end “Don’t leave I’m coming to get you.” I slide down the brick wall in front of my bike. 

Is it better this way? Did I do the right thing? Things I’ll wonder for the rest of my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haaa.. I'm sorry.  
> I'll try to update asap.  
> Kudos are appreciated ◡‿◡


	9. The Aftermath (1/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> •I have a Beta Reader now! She’s super sweet and helped a lot when I was stuck on this chapter.
> 
> •Wheres the actual ‘fight club’ you may ask, and great question lol This is a rough part of the story where you’re getting to know the characters, but ittsa coming ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Thats it, happy reading!

{ Yoongi }

“Kook, you haven’t seen the sun in four days. You should get out of bed, get some fresh air, or at least take a shower.” I sit on the edge of his bed and brush the bangs out of his face. He doesn’t say anything, just blinks his dewey red eyes at me. “I know this has thrown you for a loop, kid, but you have to take care of yourself.” He blinks at me a few more times. Shit, I came in here to comfort him and now I’m lecturing him. I really do suck at this. “I know… Ah, I know I suck at this. At comforting people,” I rub the back of my neck, searching for the right words. “Jin was, _is_ always so good at it… It seems effortless how he does it. I should’ve tried to learn from him, especially after my decision to you know, adopt you and stuff. That’s my fault. Especially lately, I’ve grown complacent with how well I’ve been taking care of you.” I sigh and look at the wall adjacent to his bed, it’s littered with photos he’s taken over the years “I’m not throwing myself a pity party, well, I’m not trying to but here we are.” My eyes drift to a picture of Tae and Jungkook smiling together, he can’t be older than 17. “As for Taehyung, it took a lot for you tell him how you feel. I’m sorry, pressuring you to tell him was wrong.” I sigh heavily, “He can’t tell you how you feel Kook. You know how you feel and no one, not even Tae can tell you that’s wrong. You’ve harbored these feelings for him for years and they’re important to you, your connection to Taehyung is important to you, so don’t let anything tarnish them.”

I look back at him to see that his eyes are closed, tears slowly falling to his pillow. I push his bangs back again. “Listen Kookie, I talked to Jimin, and Tae isn’t coming to Namjin’s dinner tonight so I thought we could go together. I’m pretty sure Jin is cooking your favorite, and on the way home we can pick up a movie or something. How does that sound?” He opens his red and puffy eyes at me.

“Okay.” Is all he says in a broken voice. I’ll take it as a win.

 

 

-

{ Jimin }

 

[](https://ibb.co/m4vHby)   
[Nicholas Breton](https://poetandpoem.com/Nicholas-Breton)  


I set my phone on the counter in front of me and look around the empty cafe. How has my life gotten here? I take my phone in my trembling hands.

[](https://ibb.co/k3Wn9J)   
[Nicholas Breton](https://poetandpoem.com/Nicholas-Breton)  


I all but throw my phone on the counter now, like its hot to the touch. The cafe is empty, I’m closing it by myself, and Min Yoongi is coming here in five minutes. Cool. Pull yourself together Park Jimin, you’re better than this. You can talk to this man like a normal human being.

Exactly six minutes goes by before I hear the bell go off on the door. I take two deep breaths before rounding the counter with a tub full of clean cups in my hands. Yoongi doesn’t look any more or less attractive than the last time I saw him. He’s dressed in various shades of black with greys thrown in indrescrimitly with a black beanie on his head and a mask pulled under his chin. He walks up to the counter and adjusts the thickly framed black glasses on his face.

“Oh my God, Yuri.” I blurt out as I let the cups drop the short distance to the counter. He looks at me with his mouth open, he was just about to say something before I interrupted. When he processed what I said his cheeks flushed a deep red. “Shit, you watch that show?” I ask, wanting to disappear into my oversized sweater. He gives a slow nod, avoiding my eyes. I sigh, “Of course you do. You live with Jungkook, you two are huge weebs.”

At that his head snaps up. “I’m not a fucking weeaboo! If anything you are, I mean really? The grey hair?” He motions at me, “You pull the Viktor look off, but pot, meet kettle.” I roll my eyes. “Don’t think I didn’t see the wide assortment of anime on the entertainment center in your apartment. On top of that, you have fucking Saitama tattooed on your arm.” He smirks but pulls down his right cuff a bit. “Let’s just agree that we both, uh, have a few weeaboo tenancies.”

I laugh at him as I start to hang up the clean mugs. “Agreed.”

He clears his throat and I hear a stool scraping on the hardwood. “I don’t know if you’ve talked to Taehyung tonight, but if you’re working you probably haven’t, so I’ll catch you up on everything. Jungkook told Taehyung about his feeling for him. I assume you already know that he has feelings for Tae, because anyone with a brain can tell that they’re both head over heels for each other.” Yoongi takes a breath, and in that moment I swear he looks 10 years older. “Anyway, Taehyung told him that he was confused, and he couldn’t love him. He just doesn’t see him that way.” He brushes his hair back, “In short, this is one of the only emotionally vulnerable moments Jungkook has had in years hell, his entire life, and Taehyung treated him like a child.” His anger is apparent just under the surface, and honestly it’s intimidating.

I try to take all of this in, trying to understand how Jungkook suddenly got the courage to tell him, and how Taehyung thought it was appropriate to tell Jungkook how he should feel. “Okay,” I say, and Yoongi looks at me with sharp eyes. “First we’re going to fix our Kookie, then were going to kick Tae’s ass until he understands what he’s done. Sound good?” Yoongi smiles at me, all gums.

“Sounds good to me.”

-

“He’s confused Jimin, he’s not close to a lot of people and we’re really close. I mean, just think about it this way; we’re both attractive and the same age, plus we get along so freakin’ well... Hypothetically we would be perfect together, so it kinda makes sense why he’d get confused.” He starts picking at the blanket on his lap. “We just don’t mesh that way, though. Our relationship isn’t like that.”

I scoff at him “Okay. let’s say all of that makes sense. _It doesn’t by the way_ , but let’s say it does. Why did you think it was okay to discount his feelings? I mean that’s really shitty of you, Tae. If you really don’t feel that way about him, _which again I’m calling bullshit_ , you should’ve let him down easy. You’re so protective of him, and you really fucked him up with all of this.”

His head snaps up. “Is he okay? How do you know?”

I scratch my temple, contemplating telling him or not. “I talked to Yoongi, he stopped by the cafe last night. Jungkook hasn’t left his room since that night…We think it’d be good for him to go to Namjin’s dinner tonight, which means you can’t go.”

Taehyung’s eyes widen at my words. “God, what did I do?” He shrinks in on himself. As much as I want to comfort my best friend right now, I don’t think he deserves it. He thoughtlessly hurt someone I care about very much. I really expected more from him. “Since when are you and Yoongi a ‘we’?” He almost laughs, but stops quickly as I shoot a glare at him.

“Taehyung, I’ve been holding my tongue because I know no one can make you feel any worse about this than you, but don’t think for a second that I’m in the mood to joke around. Yoongi texted me last night and yes, the correct word to use in that sense is we.”

He doesn’t say anything for awhile. “I need to see him.” I sigh at him, “That might be what you need Tae, but it’s the last thing he needs.” He gives a short nod.

“I just want to explain to him… that- I didn’t- I don’t-“

I lay my hands on his. “Tae, give him time. It’s hard enough to be on the shit end of unrequited love, it must be almost unbearable for it to be with your best friend.” He looks up at me with watery eyes. “I’m not saying this to hurt you, but you need to understand that talking to him now will only hurt him more.” He nods again. “I have to get ready for class and I won’t be stopping by after it’s over but, um, I’ll make sure to have Jin make you a plate.”

“Jimin.” He reaches out to stop me as I walk away from our small dining room table. “He called me his person.” I look at him, his usual warm presence is now cold, and empty. He knows the weight that something like that carries, and he knows how carelessly he threw it away. All of that being said, he still refuses to recognise his feelings for Jungkook. We really are fucked. There’s nothing I can say to him that will help, or at the least keep me from hurting his feelings, so I find it in both of our best interest to keep walking. I really need to talk to Yoongi.

[](https://ibb.co/js0awy)   
[Nicholas Breton](https://poetandpoem.com/Nicholas-Breton)   
[](https://ibb.co/eUfawy)   
[Nicholas Breton](https://poetandpoem.com/Nicholas-Breton)   


-

{ Jungkook }

The level of emotional pain I’m in is laughable, but it still hurts like hell. To be treated like a child by someone I love more than anyone else in the world definitely takes something out of you. I really thought I’d be able to shake it off, though. The entire ride to the tattoo shop, I told myself that no matter what happened I would accept the outcome and move forward, but here I am. That place being Yoongi begging me to drink chamomile tea and talk about how I feel. I really should stop acting like a child, I urge myself, but instead I just turn my head away from him.

“Kookie, dinner is in an hour and a half, so you’ll have to get ready soon.” _‘Ugh. Dinner,’_ I curse in my head. He never even goes to these things anyway, why is he making me go to this one? If there’s even a .002 percent chance of Taehyung showing up, I’m not interested. On top of that, everyone knows I made a fool of myself, so they’re going to baby me and try to make me feel better.

“Jungkook did you hear me?” I groan in response. He grumbles to himself as he walks out of my room, something about ‘like dealing with a child’.

-

We usually all try to dress semi-formally for Namjin’s dinners. When they first started years ago it was a weekly thing but as we got older and gained responsibilities, it’s become more of a bi-weekly tradition where we get presentable and gather to eat good food and get a little tipsy. This week the best they’re getting is my cleanest pair of black sweatpants and my Ninja Turtle Snuggie.

“You could’ve at least made him put a shirt on, Yoongi, it’s freezing outside.” Yoongi rubs the back of his neck, heh he’s irritated. Funny.

“You haven’t had to deal with an emotionless Kook, it’s fucking spooky,” he whines, “He’s like an uncooperative zombie.” Jin continues scolding him and _my_ irritation grows. They do this all the time, talk as if I can’t hear them, as if I’m not right in front of them. I lift myself off the couch and head for the balcony, but Namjoon steps in front of me.

“How are you holding up, Kook-ah?” It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes.

“I’m fine, Joon, I just need some air. Come get me when dinner is done, yeah?” He looks hesitant to let me go, but he lets me slip past him. I slide the heavy door open and closed again, then collapse into the plush outdoor furniture. Thank God for Jin’s good taste.

“Hey, Kook.” Jimin says softly beside me and my heart starts pounding in my chest. I didn’t realize he had followed me out here. He chuckles at my reaction, and pulls the blanket closer to his face.

“Hi, Jiminie. Don’t scare me like that.” He laughs again, this time even softer, barely even there. We sit in comfortable silence, letting the cold wrap around our bodies like a second skin. The unspoken words hang in the air; Jimin knows he should say something for the sake of Taehyung, and I know I should tell Jimin I’m fine, but instead we just let the cold gnaw at the words unsaid.

“I really want to see snow.” Jimin suddenly says, looking out into the night. “I haven’t seen it in… God, two years?” He sighs almost dreamily. And with that, the quiet settles over us again.

“I, uh, I want to see stars.”

Jimin looks at me with a quirked eyebrow. “Can’t you see them right now?”

I shake my head. “You can, but you can’t. It’s too bright in Seoul to see them. The light pollution in this city is almost bad enough to make me sick…” My mind drifts to a promise Tae made me a while ago “Taehyung, he, um, he promised me that for our friendaversary he’d take me to Yeongyang Firefly Park. It’s like, four hours from here so it’d be another one of our road trips,” Jimin groans at this, “but it’s supposed to be one of the best places in the world to see the stars…” My eyes start to become blurry and I try to blink it away. “I guess that really doesn’t matter now.

Jimin sighs and leans further into his seat. “I really wanted you guys to sort through this shit, but man, is it messy.” He puts his small hand on my shoulder, “He feels bad you know. He didn’t mean to make you feel like this. You know how he is… He’s just bad at feelings.”

I sniff and rub my eyes roughly. “I’m glad he feels for me.” I stand, brushing Jimin’s hand off my shoulder. I don’t feel like talking anymore. “It’s cold.” As I turn and walk inside, I hear Jimin cursing himself.

I walk inside with my eyes to the ground, praying that this night would go faster, when I hear hushed voices. I look up to see all of them huddled in the living room. An actual huddle. Fucking fantastic.

“Okay! Let’s get this shit straight right fucking now, everyone! I’m only here because Yoongi is annoying as fuck and Jin is scary as fuck. I’m fucking fine, if you choose not to believe me, that’s great. Good for fucking you. Let’s eat so I can go back to fucking bed.”

There’s a deep, somewhat unsure laugh that strikes me to my core. “Are you paraphrasing that scene from The Boondock Saints?” Taehyung asks, stepping around a pissed looking Yoongi.

I never fully understood the concept behind ‘fight or flight’ instincts until this moment. Even still, I feel like they leave an option out. I don’t feel like fighting, and I don’t have the strength within me to run. I’m rooted to the floor, it’s like I’ve been sewn to the spot just by him making that simple comment. I’m pathetic.

I swallow hard, and there’s a feeling in my chest that’s heavy and hard. It’s expanding and if it doesn’t stop soon it’s going to consume me. I look at the faces of everyone else in the room, they all have various look of anger and sympathy on them. I hate it. Taehyung takes a few steps closer to me and Yoongi goes to stop him, but Namjoon stops Yoongi. Namjoon whispers something to Yoongi, no doubt something about how ‘we need to sort through this’ or ‘how I’m an adult and can handle myself’.

“Kookie can I talk to you?” My eyes flick to Taehyung’s face. I can tell the emotion in them is one I’ve never directed at Tae before, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. Jimin comes in the door behind me then and almost runs me over, he’s definitely had a bit to drink.

“For fucks, sake Kim Taehyung, can you not listen to me just once in your life? Just once?” He walks up to me and blocks Taehyung from my view. “I forbid this.”

Tae scoffs, “Jimin please take your drunk ass elsewhere.” Taehyung turns to Hobi, who gives him frankly a disgusted look, but he comes and pries Jimin off of me, cooing at him about protecting the baby, _that baby being me._

Taehyung looks at me again, “Please?” I shrug, at this point what else can he do to me? He’s already done his damage. He motions to the balcony. I walk over and take a seat in the same soft chair, as Taehyung paces back and forth in front of me.

“Okay,” He says once, stopping in front of me for a moment before he starts pacing again. He repeats that a couple more times before I sigh.

“Start talking or I’m going inside. I don’t have a shirt on and it’s 11℃ out.” Tae eyes me from the end of the balcony where he’s stopped pacing. He slowly walks over and drags a chair in front of where I’m sitting. We’re facing each other now, we’re too close.

“I’m sorry,” he starts, but I shake my head. “You obviously don’t feel the same as me, so what the fuck are you apologizing for?” My voice is almost void of all emotion and it’s troubling. He reels back a little, trying to find his words.

“Okay, let me get all of this out. Please don’t say anything until I’m done, because you know how hard it is for me to piece together my words when it comes to stuff like this.” I nod once, leaning against the plush cushion. “Okay. I’m sorry that the situation turned out the way it did. And I’m sorry I said the things that I did, in the way that I did.” He lifts his legs into the chair and wraps his arms around them. “I should’ve been more sensitive than this. Your feelings mean a lot to me, even if I don’t return them.” He laughs a little. “Looking back, I don’t know how I didn’t realize, you’ve felt this way for a long time, haven’t you?” He looks up at me, “You don’t ever need to feel embarrassed, Kook. I’ll always be here for you. This changes nothing.” He puts his hand on my knee and reaches to rub his cheek like he always does. _“You’ll always be my golden boy.”_

All the emotion in me that’s been dormant suddenly starts gushing out as as tears that can only be compared to raging waterfalls. “Oh my, Kookie, it’s alright.”

_‘He can’t see me this way. He can’t say that and then do something like that like it’s nothing. It’s not fucking fair.’_ I feel like I no longer have control of my trembling limbs as my hand reaches back and connects with the side of Tae’s face. It’s not a hard slap, but I’m sure it stings. He leans back, stunned, which was definitely the desired result. I stand, and my snuggie gets caught on the chair, so I decide it’s not worth the struggle.

I open the door to find everyone pressed to the glass, trying to listen to a conversation that should indeed be private. A conversation I didn’t want to have, so why does it matter? I don’t even care anymore. At least that’s what I’m telling myself but my body can’t get the memo, because I feel like I can’t breathe. I disregard them and make for the door as tears refuse to stop coming out of my eyes. Yoongi whispers something to Jimin before grabbing his coat, putting it on my shoulders and ushering me out of the apartment. It’s nice to be so in tune with someone that they know exactly what you need and why you need it. If I didn’t have Yoongi, I don’t think I’d be able to deal with this.


	10. The Aftermath (2/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's late, I haven't been feeling well and this was hard to write
> 
> Good news is, chapter ten is almost done so I'll post again soon
> 
> Hope you're well (✿◠‿◠)
> 
> Happy reading!
> 
> { Also I noticed I messed up the times on the IG posts, don't mind that (╯_╰) }

Part Two

{ Jimin }

_“He feels bad you know. He didn’t mean to make you feel like this. He’s just bad at feelings.” Jungkook rubs his eyes harder than he should “I’m glad he feels for me.” He stands, brushing my hand away “Its cold.” He walks inside without another word “God damn it.”_

I shouldn’t have had that third glass of wine. I just insinuated that Taehyung feels sorry or even pities him. I’m supposed to make this better and I’m just fucking it up more. I honestly don’t know why I’m trusted in these situations.

Now Yoongi’s here and I’m kind of tipsy and so I have to be worried about embarrassing myself. _Ah, fucking Taekook_.

I slide the doors open and try to continue walking in the apartment like a normal human would, but look up to see a standoff between said idiots. “For fuck sake, Kim Taehyung, can you not listen to me just once in your life? Just once?” I take the few steps to put myself between Jungkook and Taehyung. “I forbid this.” Taehyung’s attitude flares “Jimin please take your drunk ass elsewhere.”

“Hobi, please move his drunk pixie ass.” Taehyung looks to Hobi who doesn’t like to be told what to do on a normal day and Taehyung is hurting our Jungkook, _our Jungkook_ , so he’s not thrilled he’s being ordered around. He comes and takes my arms carefully off Jungkook and wraps them around himself.

“He’s being an idiot. I mean Jungkook is our baby and he’s in pain. _Oh my God, he’s pained the baby._ That’s unforgivable.” Hobi nods along and hums in agreement as we go into the living room. Yoongi follows behind us slowly and we all sit on the couch in silence for a moment.

Hobi looks between us and says “Well, I’m going to be nosey.” And heads back towards the kitchen.

Yoongi looks at me and then at the ground. “I feel like I don’t know Taehyung anymore.” He says quietly. “I’ve known the kid for the better part of our lives and he’s never been one to act… fuck, I don’t know. Like he’s better than someone else?”

I make a noise in agreement. “This has definitely brought things out in him I didn’t know existed and it makes me sad. He’s still there though, I know he is.” I nod “He’s still our Tae. This will pass.” Yoongi’s staring at me now and I feel my cheeks heat “Anyways, wanna go listen?” He smiles, just barely but it’s there. “Yeah.” I stand and wobble a little and he catches my arm “Ah, thanks. Gravity these days, man.” He laughs at me as we make our way into the kitchen.

“I can’t hear anything. Are we sure they’re even out there?” Hoseok asks. Jin looks at him with an unimpressed look “Where did they go? We’re four stories up and they’re on the balcony. Not a lot of wiggle room.” Hobi looks at him with wide eyes “Kook looked kind of unhinged, he could’ve thrown Tae over the side.” Jin hits him as Namjoon and Yoongi laugh.

“Shut up everyone, I think they started talking.” We all move closer to the door but it seems Jin’s the only one who can actually hear.

“Okay, so I guess Tae apologized and then Kook said don’t apologize for how you feel, which yikes. And uh, okay he’s about to say stuff.” Yoongi and I look at each other confused, because hasn’t he been saying stuff? “He’s sorry the situation turned out the way it did and he’s sorry he worded what he said the way he did.”

I shift uncomfortably, I have a bad feeling about this conversation and it’s stressing me out. _There goes my buzz._

“He says he should’ve been more sensitive and _oh God, what the hell Taehyung?_ Even if he doesn’t return the feelings, they mean a lot to him.”

A fire is lit in the middle of me, stoked not only by the need to protect and defend Jungkook but the need to whoop some sense into my best friend. He’s acting like a jackass and he doesn’t even know it.

“He doesn’t know how he didn’t notice it earlier, oh Lord you guys, his tone is beyond condescending I’m not even kidding. _Kook doesn’t have to be embarrassed,_ fuck who is this kid running around in Tae skin, because he’s certainly not himself right now.” Jin’s ears are beet red and that’s how you know he’s upset. Tae messed up. Big time. “Oh no! Don’t do that! He just said he’ll always be his golden boy.” The more Jin relays what’s being said the more pissed off I’m getting.

Taehyung has never even really been interested in anyone romantically because he's been in love with his best friend without out even freaking knowing it, so he hasn’t had to deal with someone not loving him back. He hasn’t had to deal with someone playing with his emotions, he doesn’t understand the hell he’s dragging Jungkook through.

There’s a banging noise then Kook is flinging the door open surprising all of us. Tears are freely running down his face, his chest heaving like he just can’t get enough air.

Yoongi leans over to me “I’m taking him to cool off, but I’d say someone should check on Taehyung too. If it’s okay I’ll text you later to see the status of how everyone is?” He purposes the statement as a question and I’d almost laugh at his formality if he wasn’t being so sincere so I just nod and he grabs his coat and leaves with the watery Kookie.

I close my eyes and take a calming breath as I hear Jin riling himself up about how Taehyung is handling this. “Jinnie, I’ll talk to him. It’ll be okay.” I give him a small smile on the way out the door.

Taehyung doesn’t even turn his head before speaking “The lights in the city are so bright you can barely see the moon. It makes sad.” I stand next to him and look up at the moon, barely peeking out from behind a cloud. He continues “I always thought of the moon as a unifying thing, you know? In different parts of the world at different times of the year, you see all kinds of different constellations... but everyone sees the moon.” His voice is almost a whisper now “We’re all under the same moon.” He’s looking out into the night sky like he’s looking for answers, it makes my heart feel heavy.

“Yeongyang Firefly Park.” Is all I say not looking at him and he whips his head over to look at me “We talked about what we wanted to do tonight. I want to see snow. He wanted to see the stars. With you. At that park.” I run my fingers through my hair “At least he did a half hour ago anyway, not so sure about now.” He sighs and lets his head drop between his arms “I don’t know _how_ or rather _why_ I keep fucking everything up.”

He looks up at the moon again “I don’t think I have feelings for him but I really don’t mean to act the way I do when I’m talking to him about all of this.” I feel for my friend and how upset he is but I honestly believe he’s so conflicted because of his feelings for Jungkook. I don’t know how to comfort him because of that.

“The best thing you can do now is give him some space you know? I told you that earlier today and you should’ve listened to me. Give him _and you_ a week, week and a half, to collect your thoughts and then if you feel comfortable go try and talk to him again.” He nods and then hugs me, I wrap my arm around his neck and ruffle his hair gently.

“Oh, and you should know; Namjin, Hobi, and Yoongi are pretty upset with you. You should be able to talk Hobi and Joon down easily enough but Yoongi and Jin are gonna be pretty tough. You know how they are with Kookie.” He nods. “I’d be the same way if someone treated him the way I have.” He hugs me tighter “Just make sure Yoongi doesn’t kill me in my sleep.”

-

{ _Taehyung_ }

**-two days after the incident-**

I write the same message for the 12th time today, _dammit it’s not right_ , I delete all of it and stare at the blinking line in the message box. Every blink is a laugh at my emotional incompetence, my emotional failings. I throw my phone at the wall and fall to the floor, turning so my back rests against the bed. Shit, there goes 400 bucks I don’t have.

“Tae? Are you okay? I heard something hit the wall.” I hear the door knob jiggle and thank God I had enough forethought to lock it when I got in this morning. “At least tell me to go away so I at least I know you’re okay.”

I sigh, when will I stop failing those around me? “I’m fine Jiminie, just want to be alone for a bit.”

I know that if he really wanted to there are copies of the keys to our doors in a drawer in the kitchen so he could come in and force me to talk, but that’s not usually Jimin’s style. Even so, I need to remember to take it out of there.

I hear him take a deep breath “I’m going to class, now. I’ll probably meet up with Hobi after my afternoon classes until my shift so I’ll see you tonight?” _He phrased it as a question._ I mean I’m not sure why I’m surprised though I have been dodging everyone who’s reached out for the past couple days. I scoff at myself at the memory of making up a doctors appointment to get out of a lunch with Dawn, and he’s not even directly related to what I’m referring to as ‘the incident’ in my head. Which is me effectively ruining my friendship with one of the greatest humans alive. “See you Jimin.”

-

**-five days after the incident-**

_I really should be working on my midterm_ , I vaguely think as I press play and the Breakfast Club once again becomes the background music to my self-loathing. _I really should eat something other than Oreos,_ I think as I stuff another in my mouth. _I shouldn’t drink before noon,_ I sneer at myself as I wash the cookies down with the odd bottle of vodka I found lying beside my bed. Seems that I am great at naming all of the things I shouldn’t do, and the reason I’m doing all of them is that _I can’t fucking figure out what I should actually be fucking doing. What a conundrum_.

-

**-9 days after the incident-**

“Damn it, Kim Taehyung you missed last weeks dinner without so much as a flimsy excuse through text, _you will open this door and talk to me._ ” I groan softly at Jin’s loud voice. “Jimin says that you haven’t been speaking to him much either. That boy has never done anything wrong in his life and you need to stop being such an asshole to him, he’s an angel.” I hear Jimin’s soft placating voice telling him I haven’t done anything wrong and asking him to leave me alone. _He is an angel._

-

**-14 days after the incident-**

I kick back in the cheap fold-out chair sat on the balcony as the cold night air threatens to nip away at my soul. I pull out my pack of cigarettes and the cheap lighter I found in the couch we use for lighting candles and hesitate.

_Fuck it._

It’s 4 hours and a half pack later when Jimin finds me “I’ve been calling you, Hobi and I went out to eat after practice tonight and I was going to ask if you wanted anything but then I remembered you broke your phone. What are you doing out where? It’s freezing and we don’t actually use the balcony. It’s creepy out here.”

He looks down at me, cigarette in hand and every trace of good mood leaves him. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” I quirk an eyebrow taking another drag “Kim mother fucking Taehyung, you know better than this! You haven’t smoked since we were like what 18? 19? Why the fuck would you start again?”

I lean forward to flip the ash off the side of the railing. “Didn’t have a reason to not,” I say plainly. Jimin rubs the sides of his face “Not to what?” I bring the cigarette to my lips and flick my eyes up to his “Smoke.”

At that moment I swear I could hear the last bit of his patience blowing away with the wind “You didn’t have a reason not to smoke?! I can give you a few, let's see, _avoiding the following: cancer, yellow teeth and skin, and my fucking rage!_ ” He holds his head in his hands mumbling ‘didn’t have a reason’. I shrug.

He narrows his eyes at me “ _Okay Taehyung_ if cancer isn’t a big enough deterrent, what stopped you last time?” ‘Like you weren’t fucking there’, I whine eternally “Jungkook said he was going to start. I told him to no. He said it wasn’t fair because I smoked, I said ‘do as I tell you not as I do’. He told me that was fucking stupid and I honestly had to agree. So I stopped and he never started.” Jimin recoils by the mention of Jungkook’s name, it’s the first time we’ve talked about him since that night. “Oh.” He sits in the chair next to me “Yeah.”

There’s a long silence that settles over us. I know he’s going to say something and I’m praying to every higher power that he just spares me the excruciating ache in my chest I get when I think about the things I said to him, the pain that I’ve caused him.

“You haven’t lost him, Tae. You were a jerk sure, but you haven’t done any permanent damage.” I take another drag and stub it out on the concrete under me. “Don’t.” I say a bit too harsh “Don’t Jiminie, I don’t need… that.” He crosses his arms across his chest “I honestly don’t give a damn what you think you need. I’ve known you your entire life and this isn’t you. Not isolating yourself, not the smoking, and most of all not the way you treated Kook.”

The lump in my throat grows the more Jimin talks “I know. I know all of that. It’s like I’m just a fucking passenger in my own body as I mistreat all the people I love. I hate it and the more I try to figure out how to fix it, why I’m doing it, the more I’m being an asshole.” Tears threaten to spill and I refuse them the pleasure.

“I’m going to tell you something you aren’t going to say stuff you probably don’t want to hear but you’re going to sit there and listen anyway.”

Jimin turns to face me “You’ve been so messed up lately because of Jungkook’s confession and I don’t just mean the implications it has on your friendship but what it could mean for you personally. For whatever reason you never considered Kook to be a possible love interest though you guys are the definition of what ‘couple goals’ look like. You’ve acted like a couple with him for years, you’ve just been spared the pain of being secretly in love with the other, which is more than you can say about Jungkook. You don’t know why you’re acting this way? Simple, you’re upset. Why are you upset? You’re upset because you don’t like change and you’re afraid of losing Kookie. This might be unconvincing coming from someone who complained for weeks when ABC Family changed to Freeform but not all change is bad. I mean you used to cut holes in your clothes as a style choice. Look how far you’ve come.” I pick at my sweats and a ghost of a nostalgic smile passes my lips.

“And I told you to give him some time but it’s been enough time… He’s going to start wondering why you aren’t trying to get ahold of him.” I nod. “It’s fucking freezing out here, I’m going in and you’re coming with me. Also-” He leans over and plucks the cigarettes off the table next to me “I’ll dispose of these. You have an example to uphold.”

-

**-17 days after the incident-**

I lift my brush from the canvas and sigh. That’s as good as it’s going to get.

Dawn notices my lack of movement and makes his way over to me. “Done?” He asks in a voice to awake for seven AM. “Yeah, and only two weeks late.” He sighs as bends get a closer look. “They might be late, but Mr. Adelizzi loves you. I mean you literally told him they were going to be late and he said he’d only take 25 percent off as long as you get them in by the end of the month. I’m telling you, if I would’ve tried that shit he would’ve failed me right then.”

He straightens and walks back to his work area “Plus they’re fuckin’ fantastic so you’ll still probably come out with a better grade than me.”

-

**-23 days after the incident-**

“Jungkook started a fight club.” I blink at Jimin a few times “ _He did what?_ ” Jimin sighs and runs his fingers through his messy hair. I realize then the bags under his eyes are bigger than usual and he’s still in the clothes he wore to work.

“Jungkook started a fight club. I guess him and Yugyeom went out drinking last week and some guys tried to mug them but long story short Jungkook realized they used to work with one of them so they all went out for another drink and decided to beat the shit out of each other a good way to work off some steam.” I continue to blink at him “Okay wait- Jungkook was mugged and you decided to lead with the fight club?” Jimin rolls his eyes “The fight club makes the mugging irrelevant.”

He plops down onto our couch and looks moments away from falling asleep. “Are you good, Min?” He motions for me to sit down next to him and proceeds to glue himself to my side. “Yeah, I’m good. I've been spending time with Yoongi to get the music for my showcase right, so there's been some late nights. Did you know his professional name is Suga?" He laughs quietly "Of course you do. It's funny to me, though. So unlike Agustd." He yawns mid-sentence, stretching his legs out. 

"Ah- um, I also I didn’t want to bother you with it because of, you know… but my financial-aid was cut so I have to come up with some major dough real soon to stay in all my classes.” He yawns “That’s why I haven’t been around much. Sorry about that, by the way.” I flip the blanket laid over the arm of the couch around him and he hums in thanks “Don’t worry about it, Jiminie. We’ll come up with the money, even if we have to find you a suga daddy.” I nudge his arm and wiggle my eye brows at him to which he laughs and hits me; still not leaving my shoulder.

“I love you, Tae.” He says before he falls asleep on my shoulder. I dare not move in fear of disturbing him. I carefully slide my phone out of my pocket, watch some YouTube videos, read some webtoons and eventually end up scrolling through Instagram. There’s a post from Jungkook from a week and a half ago:

[](https://ibb.co/mWZSUT)

Wow… He’s something, isn’t he? Good selfie. Good. Yep. Moving on. I scroll through countless memes, various selfies of friends and acquaintances, and plenty of pretty art pieces. What I see next is enough to break my heart

[](https://ibb.co/fmF1pT)

I accidentally jostle Jimin as I try hard not to let it get to me. He sleepily blinks at me and looks at my phone.

“Ah, man” he sits up straight and rubs his eyes sluggishly. “I saw that the day before yesterday, I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t see it.” He pulls his blanket up to his shoulders “ Yoongi and Kook came in when I was closing the other night and hung out. He seemed to like the tattoo…”

I just continue to stare at the ink on his skin “You know, I think it means something that he always got his tattoos from you, it made them special to him because you guys did them together. Quality time spent and all that...”

Jimin continues to ramble for a bit, ending with a yawn and I close the screen and toss my phone on the couch beside me. “Jiminie I need um, I’m going to go out for a bit. Go to bed and I’ll wake you when I come home. I’ll pick up some Chinese food.” Jimin looks like he wants to protest but just nods and stretches out. “Don’t forget your coat and be safe, Tae.”

-

**-30 days since the incident-**

“Tae this is getting ridiculous, I haven’t seen you in literally three days. You need to come out of your room and see me, I don't know, go somewhere when it isn’t dark outside?” Jimin says softly banging on my door. He’s quiet for a minute “I have news about Jungkook.”

I turn over “Jimin I love you but go away.”

There’s a thud against the door that I can almost guarantee is his head softly hitting the door. “I feel like you should know. He got his new apartment. He started moving in today.” There’s silence for a long time, I don’t have anything to say to that. There are a few stray knocks “Make sure you eat today.” Is what's said before the banging stops altogether and I find it vaguely concerning.

I don’t know how I get myself into these situations. I don’t know why I make bad situations a thousand times worse but here I am, wallowing in my own self-pity and hatred. It’s been 30 days since I decided to ruin the relationship with one of the six most significant people in my life. I try to think about life without him and I almost explode with how not okay that is. _Why did I say those things? Why did I act that way?_

I push play on the controller and listen to the first few notes of Don’t You Forget About Me play on the tv and try to sleep away this melancholy haze that’s made it’s home inside my head.

There’s a loud crash that startles me awake and off my bed “Where the hell is he?” I peak my head over my bed and standing next to my now broken bedroom door is Yoongi, Jimin, Namjoon, and Jin. I sigh and fall back on my butt “What the actual fuck you guys?”

They spot me and move in a group to the other side of my bed. “Tae, this is an intervention,” Jin states in a serious tone.

“An intervention for what? Being nocturnal? Being anti-social? I’m sorry but if that’s so then Yoongi’s like 20 years overdue for one.” Jimin snickers and Jin elbows him as Yoongi throws him a betrayed look.

He breaks away from their little group to help me up. “No, smartass, there’s nothing wrong with not being able to sleep during the night or even not feeling like dealing with people. That being said, _we’re not people, we’re us Tae. You don’t avoid us, you don’t cut us out.”_

I look at the four of them and suddenly feel exposed like they’re trying to prod at me until they find my weak spots. “I haven’t been doing that? And even if I was, what about it? _You_ literally do it all the time. You know what they say about glass houses, Yoongi.” I really didn’t mean for his name to sound like an insult but it did. Surprisingly though, he just takes a seat at the end of my bed and looks at me. He’s not even doing anything and it’s pissing me off because he knows, that I know, that he knows, why I’m acting this way right now; _he’s_ the one who’s usually on this side of these conversations and _he_ knows how I’m going to react and it’s grinding on my non-existent nerve.

Jimin steps forward with a nervous laugh breaking our eyes contact. “Okay, anyways that’s not the reason we’re here so let’s talk about the actual thing.” He back and forth between us until I give an exasperated nod in agreement.

“Let’s get it over with, but not in here. I want some tea so everyone gets out. Go, go to the living room.” Jin can’t seem to decide whether or not to be relieved that I agreed to talk or pissy that I kicked them all out of my room. _It’s amusing._

“I’ll make the tea, go talk to Joon.” Jin shoos me away and I roll my eyes at him. ‘Kicking me out of my own kitchen. It’s my apartment, old man’ I remark in my head as I walk around the bar and into the living room. Yoongi and Jimin are sitting on the couch and Namjoon’s staring at me as I take the seat closest to Jimin.

“Okay, Taehyung let me get something clear from the very beginning. I’m going to talk to you and you’re going to listen to me for three distinct reasons. One, as much as I detest the title, I’m the ‘father’ of this group and I feel I’ve neglected that duty you guys have untrusted me with. I apologize for that.” I roll my eyes and his voice sharpens “Two, I’ve known you since you thought I, _along with Mulan_ , were the coolest people in the entire world. So I trust your four-year-old self and let the coolest person alive give you advice. Lastly, you’re going to listen to me because you’re not you right now and that means someone I love very much is gone and I absolutely refuse to lose anyone. You’re the only person who can bring him back and that’s my expectation of you. Do you understand me?”

I nod my head slowly, I’m not sure how to take what he just said. He went from talking about my admiration of Mulan to something that’s honestly too heartfelt to me to deal with right now. I don’t think I can handle this. Namjoon brushes his hair back and composes himself “Good, then let’s get to it.”

-

**-two hours after the invasion of Namjin and Suji-**

“You’ve said that a hundred times in the past hour, Jin! You can’t just say _‘You’re in love with Jungkook and that’s why you’ve been in emotional turmoil for the past month.’_ Jin folds his hands on his lap “No one said anything about emotional turmoil, darling. Have you been in emotional turmoil?”

I stop pacing in front of the four of them and stare at Jin. I could genuinely scream. Instead, I pull at the ends of my hair and start pacing again.

“Tae think about the way you treat him! The way you _actually_ feel about him. That’s not a friendship! That’s not familial love you feel. You’re inescapably, determinately, beyond rhyme or reason, head over fucking heels for that boy.” I pin Jin with a glare “Just because you add a bunch of adjectives doesn’t mean it’s any truer.” Namjoon hides a laugh behind his hand and I start pacing again.

How do I feel about him? I’m not attracted to him, right? I mean I can admit that he’s fucking attractive but anyone with two eyes can see that. I sometimes get jealous when he pays more attention to Yugyeom than me but I’m the same way with Jimin and Hobi. I’m a jealous person by heart, it has nothing to do with being attracted to Jungkook. I’m not attracted to Kookie, I can’t be… Right?

Yoongi rubs his hands down his face, I can see his patience wearing thin but I honestly couldn’t care less.

“Bud, come here.” He motions me over and I quickly contemplate not listening to him, but decide this is probably the best thing. I sit on the coffee table in front of him and he lightly grabs my shoulders “Okay, listen I get it. I don’t like dealing with my feelings either, especially when I’m at the point you are but this is the point where you can’t run away anymore. You either face this shit or it consumes you, and we aren’t going to let that happen.”

I look down and he catches my eyes with his own “I can get why you’re having a hard time with this, I mean you’ve never been in a real relationship. You’ve never even really been around many healthy relationships period, let alone when they’re first forming so how would you know how all of this happens. Don’t feel bad about it, I’m the same way kid.” He takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“The feelings you have for Kook though, they’re different than what you feel for anyone else?” I nod and for some reason, the more Yoongi talks to me in his soft voice the blurrier my eyes get “Are there times you look at him and you think ‘you’re the greatest person alive’ but at the same time you’re terrified?” Another nod “Does your world seem less bright without him in it?” Tears are straight out streaming down my face, I choke out a ‘yeah’. He wipes my tears “Have you wanted more than anything to talk to him for the past month?” A sob hits me hard as I do my best to indicate yes.

Jimin scoots closer to us. “Tae you don’t have to jump into a long-term relationship or a relationship period, just because you admit you like him. This isn’t a rom-com, you aren’t going to run through an airport and catch him at the gate and then two seconds later be at the altar. Just let yourself feel what you feel and then go from there.” I hide my head in my hands. “Guys, I think…” I try to compose myself but a new set of tears fall from my eyes immediately. I lift my head to look at them all

“I think I might have feelings for him.”


	11. The One With A Confusing Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here's the thing.. I kind of forgot to post this chapter because I had two chapter nines (The Aftermath 1 and 2) but it numbered the chapters 9 and 10 so when I got on here to check on things I didn't notice that I hadn't posted it. 
> 
> So here's the *real* chapter 10 and the chapter I posted a couple days ago (The One Where It Gets Better) is directly after this. Sorry for all the confusion, I promise to get my crap together.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

_Oscar Wilde once said “If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life”. I’m not sure if I’ve made you wait too long, God how I hope I haven’t, but if you’ll wait just a few more minutes I’ll be by your side. I don’t know how to do this and fuck, I’m terrified, but if I have to I’ll wait for you for the rest of my life._

-

They all just stare at me as I tug on the ends of my hair again. The silence is deafening, I look imploringly at each of their stunned faces until I land on Jimin’s. His mouth set in a surprised ‘o’ stretches into a blinding smile.

“Fucking finally!” Jin yells, putting his hand around Namjoon’s shoulders. Namjoon grabs onto Jin’s hand and gives me a soft smile “What he means to say is, we’re happy that you finally realized your feelings are in fact there. It’s a long time coming.” Yoongi scoffs “‘Long time’, you’re only six years late. That’s nothing.” Jimin smacks his arm “Hush, you.” Jimin gets up and hugs me “You guys did this on your own time, it wouldn’t be your story if you didn’t. Don’t listen to the grump.” I smile at him, he always knows what to say.

“So what are you going to do now?” Yoongi asks taking a drink from his mug. My brain short circuits and Jimin squeezes my shoulders gently. “Tae, you have that face on. The ‘I’m freaking the fuck out’ face. You don’t have to do anything about the feelings if you don’t want to, you can take a couple days.” Yoongi stretches on the couch “That’d be kinda shitty though, right? First it’s the whole pining thing for six years and then it’s unrequited love for a month and now we’re talking about you requiting? Is that a word? You requiting Kook and not doing anything about it.” Yoongi takes another sip out of his mug “Shitty.”

Jin leans over and smacks the back of his head “Damn, was that to honest?” Yoongi asks. Jimin rolls his eyes at him “Yes, you ass.” Yoongi sighs, putting his elbows on his knees “Fuck, you’re right. Tae, I’m sorry I haven’t slept in-” He looks at his watch “31 hours. Shit, 30 hours is nothing, I’m getting old. Starbucks doesn’t make these as good as you do, Jimin.” He falls back against the cushion yawning “Not strong enough.” I mumble an ‘It’s okay’ because nothing he said was cruel or untrue and because I know when Yoongi goes this long without sleep he can be a unbearable so him being slap happy is nothing.

I turn back to Jimin who has a blush brushed across his cheeks, I’m assuming from what Yoongi said. I note it and definitely plan on asking him how Yoongi is so acquainted with his coffee but for now I look to the parents.

“What should I do?” They look at each other then back at me “I think you should run to him.” Jin says in a wistful voice and Namjoon pinches the bridge of his nose. “Unfortunately, I have to agree with the embodiment of drama. I’ve wanted to see you guys happy and together for a long time…” He looks at Jin who’s eyes are shining so bright you can practically see the stars in them, Jin nods enthusiastically and Namjoon sighs “ _So run to him._ ” Jin hugs Namjoon, smiling brightly.

“Yoongi?” He looks at me with a bored look. “Okay, here’s last piece of advice I can afford to give today: You’re being stupid.” Jin smacks him again and he curses but continues “You can listen to our opinions, you always have, but at the end of the day you always do what your heart tells you. This shouldn’t be any different.” He smiles at me, small but sweet.

“Yoongi you’re getting awfully wise in your old age.” Jin remarks making everyone except Yoongi laugh. “You’re older than I am!” He squeaks and Jin flips him off.

“Min?” Jimin startles a little, but takes my hands in his much smaller ones “T, I’ve always kind of been jealous of how you’ve always known how you feel about everything. So let me be the first to say: welcome to my world, the world of indecision, insecurity and trepidation.”

We both laugh a little “The way you live your life it’s so full of love and passion. You float through people’s lives bringing joy with your art and just… your soul. It’s hard to imagine you not, I don’t know… Like a star cluster. So bright, so unwavering, so sure of its place in the universe… But you don’t have to be that way, no one expects you to be that way, you’re allowed to be unsure Tae. You shouldn’t rush yourself or feel pressured to make a decision. Just make sure when you decide you’re completely sure and you’re kind.” I stare at my best friend and he smiles at me and wipes at my cheek with his sleeve “You never cry this much.” He laughs “I don’t. You made me. Don’t… do that.” I hug him as tight as I can “I love you.” I pull away from him and look over to see the three on the couch in various stages of tears.

“You’re all big babies and I love you. Thank you so much for helping me. For… pulling me from-” I smile at them “Just thank you.”

“So uh, where does he live now?” I ask fiddling with my fingers “I texted you the address while Jimin was droning on about whatever it was… stars or something.” Yoongi nonchalantly wipes under his eyes. Jimin sighs next to me and they start bickering about ‘how Jimin talks too much’. They have a weird vibe that I need to understand but for now there’s someone who I’ve kept waiting for far too long.

Jin looks up at me and smiles “I’ll call you an Uber!” I panic “No wait!” He shakes his head “Too late, love. If I can give you one more piece of advice, try not to be too nervous. You start to ramble when you’re nervous so try to keep it concise.” I nod at him. I can be calm I can totally do that.

“What are you waiting for? There’s someone a half hour from here that you need to confess your undying love to.” Namjoon looks at Jin “You’re feeling extra dramatic today aren’t you?” He shrugs.“I’m a mess, I need to shower and change and- wait. What fucking time is it?” Yoongi looks at his watch “It’s 2:10. Man, we’ve been here for ages.” Jin hits him “It hasn’t been ages, it’s only been two hours.” Yoongi mumbles something along the lines of ‘same difference’.

“What if he’s asleep?” Jimin picks my coat and wallet up off the coffee table and pushes me in the direction of the door “Then you’ll come back. Go! Your cars here!” Jin yells after me.

-

“You can’t take four rights! That takes you in a circle! Take three rights and a left and we’ll be out of this freaking subdivision. This is important and I’m late.” The old man just nods and shoos me back into the back seat. He takes 1… 2… 3… rights “Okay remember turn left.” He takes another right. I fall back into the seat and contemplate weather or not I should take this as a sign.

-

“Yeah, thanks.” I say to Uber driver from hell. My half hour drive turned into a two hour one so now I’m not imposing on Jungkook at two in the morning I’m doing it at four.

I wanted the drive to be over so much but now that I’m here, looking at this building, I’m more nervous than I think I ever have been in my life. I know if I don’t do this now, I won’t ever have the nerve do it.

I pull out my phone and look at the Yoongi’s message with the apartment number and walk inside. He’s on the top floor, which I find kind of surprising considering his fear of elevators.

It dawns on me in the longest elevator ride of my life that he could not feel that way about me anymore. I mean what if he doesn’t want to be my friend anymore, let alone pursue any type of romantic relationship with me? Fuck.

The doors open and I hesitate. I think about the night he came into SM’s and told me how he felt; he had to be nervous, scared, doubtful… I know it was hard for him but he still did it.

I walk out of the elevator and down the hall until I stop at the one with a 77 on the door. I laugh a little, the tipping point on which apartment he got probably came down to the fact his favorite number is seven.

I take a calming breath and think about all the questions Yoongi asked me, that’s the reason I’m doing this. I can’t keep living without him. I can’t keep ignoring my feelings.

I knock on the door and he opens the door with a bloody towel to his lip. I expected him to be surprised to see me or I was kind of hoping that’d he’d be happy. What I was not expecting was a bored, detached look that one can only classify as a glare. “Hi-- uh, hi Kook.” To say the mood is icy is an understatement. “I have work in the morning, if you can remember that I exist come back tomorrow.” He slams the door in my face. I blink a few times and yeah, that did just fucking happen.

I don’t know whether to be hurt that didn’t get three words out before he shut me down, pissed that the brat slammed the door in my face, or fucking depressed that he just said the words ‘if you can remember I exist’ to my face. It’s nothing I don’t deserve I guess, I just I don’t know what to do with that and I don’t know what to do now. I take a couple steps back and when my back hits the other side of the wall I slide down and sit with my knees pressed to my chest.

-

_{ Jungkook }_

What time is it? I look over at my alarm clock and curse, I have to be up in a few hours. Sleep has been alluding me lately so this comes as no surprise, really. I grab my phone to find two messages

[](https://ibb.co/dJUHBL)

He rants about our bosses boasting about taking his family away for a spontaneous vacation giving the staff a weeks paid vacation. Well, I guess that fixes one of my problems.

I decide trying to chase sleep is futile so I conceded to another sleepless night. I walk into my living room, that’s weird it’s _mine and only mine_ , I walk into my living room and room and look at the mountains of boxes that are stacked against the walls. I know I don’t have this much crap. I know Yoongi doesn’t have this much crap so where the hell did all of it come from?

I fall down onto the couch and think about what’d I’d be doing if I was at home-- at Yoongi’s. I’d probably be in my chair, which I left in his studio, re-reading My Hero Academia or playing on my switch, annoying him, drawing, doing anything other than sitting alone in a dark living room. Why did I think independence was a good thing? Codependency is my middle name and I moved 45 minutes away from my security blanket.

My mind starts to wander towards Tae so I do my best to nip those thoughts in the bud. I open messenger and bring up the group chat for what Jimin is calling my ‘Fight Club’, which being blunt I guess it is. I text them a time and place and grab my keys.

-

_“Hey Kook, it’s Jin. I seem to have missed you... again. Jungkook listen, I ran into Yugyeom and Youngjae today and Yugyeom seemed worried. You started a fight club? I would be livid and screaming at you but I just got off and Joon’s niece is staying with us. Count your blessings, child. I can’t say I’m surprised but I’m worried about you, Kookie. You need to slow down, if you keep going the way you are you’ll burn yourself out. I know you hate when I nag but I just want whats b-”_

_I skip to the next message_

_“Kook! Namjoon here, I haven’t heard from you in a while how about we go get something to eat soon? Hope you’re being sa-”_

_Skip to the next message_

_“Hey Kookie, it’s Jimin. The dollar theater by my work has that old disney movie you like, you know the one in space with the kid, I always get it mixed up with Sinbad… Anyway, I thought we could get some lunch and catch the matinee… or something. I love you Jungko-”_

_Skip to the next message_

_“Kid why the hell aren’t you answering your phone? I could be dying and you’re not texting me back because you don’t want to be nagged at. The nerve. Oh, it’s Yoongi by the way, in case you forgot the sound of the voice that raised you. Call me back you jacka-”_

_Skip to the next message_

_“Jungkookie! It’s Hobi. I know we haven’t talked much about any of this but I’m here if you need me. You know that, right? You’ve always got me and everyone else but especially me. I love you the most. One day Kook-ah, I’m going to get you to admit it I’m your favorite. The others will cry, I will laugh, it’ll be a good day… Ah just… Just promise me you’ll come to one of us if it’s too much. You’re too important to all of us to have anything happen to you. As much as you despise it, you’re our baby. You’re my little brother and my kid and you will always have somewhere to turn to, have people who are willing to shield you from all the shit the world throws at you. I’m rambling and Zico is waiting for me to go get something to eat… Fuck. Just be safe, alright? I miss y-”_

_I throw my phone down on the couch beside me and rub the heels of my palms into my eyes._

_Their love is suffocating._

_The Shownu Tattoo sign blinks and buzzes to my right, a constant reminder of what I’m about to do. I don’t feel bad about this. I don’t owe anything to anyone. This is my body, I do this for me._

_The more I think that, the more I try to convince myself that, the less I believe it. I just want this hollow feeling to go away. The feeling it’s— it’s endless and vast and worse than any pain I’ve ever felt in my life. There’s nothing physically wrong with me, there’s no wound I can tend to, but it feels like my chest has been ripped open._

_I’ve never been afraid of space, I’ve never shied away from the endless possibilities the sky above us presented; but I know now there’s no other way to describe how I’m feeling, than having a black hole where my heart used to be._

_“Jungkook?” Hyun-woo looks down at me with a welcoming smile on his face. “Uh, yeah. Hyun-woo?” I ask “Yeah, that’s me. You can me Shownu though.” He says ushering me back to the table. “This is your place?” I ask with only a vague interest “Yeah! Well, half of it is.” He laughs “My dad started the shop and named it after me and yeah, it’s a long story.” We sit in our respective chairs “Okay, what can I do for you today?”_

-

Fight club is strange in the sense that no matter the venue, no matter the time, no matter the crowd, the vibe is always the same. Troubled people coming together to beat the shit out of each other sounds like it’d be a hostile environment but it’s more violent than it is anything else. People will beat the shit out of each other for 15 minutes and as soon as the fight is over they’ll talk about their kids or where the best place to vacation is. It’s oddly unifying.

I step up on the hood of Yugyeom’s mustang and he guffaws at me. I ignore the protests he throws at me about standing on ‘his baby’ and turn to address the crowd.

I raise my hands in a way to greet everyone and catch their attention. “Hello and welcome to Fight Club. We don’t have many rules here, but the ones we do have are enforced strictly.” I look around the different floors of the abandoned car park and note the higher attendance. “Rule number one: You don’t talk about fight club” Everyone laughs at that and I smile back at them. Rule one is almost made to be broken, it’s basically impossible to go through daily life being apart of something like this and not talk about it.

“Rule number two: if someone passes out or taps out, the fight is over. Don’t be that guy.” There’s an abundance of nodding.

“Rule three: You’ll only fight those in your weight class only. No exceptions, no special cases.” There's murmuring amongst the crowd but I just continue on. “Rule four: If it’s your first time here, you have to fight. The only exception to the rule is our Hyuna” I point over at a table set up with the amber redhead sitting on top looking bored. At the mention of her name she smiles and waves “Hello boys!” She shouts to which she gets excited exclamations back. “She coordinates the fights and makes sure no one’s being stupid. Well, too stupid that is. She’s the most important person here so everyone give our girl lots of love.” Everyone claps and there’s a few wolf whistles so I add “Don’t let her delicate appearance fool you, she can kick all of our asses.”

“Our last rule: what happens during fight club stays here. Don’t take any shit out of here because you got your ass beat. Be a man, work harder and come back.” There’s laughter, clapping and whooping that follows that. I feel myself slip into the ‘fight club’ mindset and I feel comfortably numb.

No hallow.

No Taehyung.

“That’s it. Good luck, dumbasses.”

I jump down off the car and Yugyeom falls in stride beside me on my way to Hyuna. “You’re paying to get my car washed.” I smile. “Why don’t I just get it repainted while I’m at it? I’m thinking ‘Ladies and Magenta-Men’, what do you think?” He scrunches his nose at me “I think you’re not coming anywhere near my car and Aeris has painted your nails one too many times.” I shrug as we get to the table and Hyuna greets us with a smile “Hyuna, darling, please tell me you have someone for Jungkook to beat the shit out of because I can’t stand it while he’s…” he gestures up and down my body “Like this.”

She laughs “Yeah, I might have someone. His name is Kiyong, it’s his first time here and he’s… little. So maybe take it a bit easy would you?” I nod at her, she knows I never go overboard when fighting. Well I don’t think I do, but lately I’ve had to fight at least three times before the comfortable ache sets over my body and I know I’ll be able to go home and pass out. She knows this too and that’s probably why she’s giving me a kid that’s never fought before.

“Is he the only one?” She nods her head with a small smile and I rolls my eyes. “Where is he?” She looks at the paper on the table and runs a finger down the list “Level two.” I grumble a thanks before setting a quick pace up to level two.

The anticipation of the fight runs through me, seeming to buzz at my bones making me feel excited, anxious, and alert. I round the bend to meet a young kid, who, when he laughs at what the person next to him says looks no older than 15. He’s fucking adorable. _Damn it, Hyuna._

I approach and greet him, I explain how this is going to happen and all the while the kid has this biggest blush across his cheeks. How am I supposed to hit him? As Yugyeom begins to ready the area, we both disperse and prepare both mentally and physically. I shrug off the hoodie I have on and stretch my shoulders. They’ve been bothering me lately but, that’s not a problem for now.

This is what I was looking for, thinking about nothing other than making sure I’ll be able to move in the morning. My mind not even being attached to my body, it just being there to send directions for my body to follow.

I used to watch Jimin box sometimes and I guess that’s where I picked up my base skill. After getting hired at Nightlight we had to go through pretty rigorous training but most my preeminent memory of fighting is Jimin teaching me how to defend myself. I have a lot to thank him for.

We meet in the middle of the area that Yugyeom cleared for us and touch knuckles. Yugyeom counts down and it begins.

It almost becomes a game, dodging the hits and getting the reward of the burning feeling of my knuckles making contact. A sign that it’s real, I’m here and my actions have consequences. I get too comfortable and a left hook takes me by surprise, it connects on the right side of my mouth. I give a laugh as Kiyong’s eyes widen comically as I spit blood and wipe it off my chin.

This is what I live for these days, the moments where my mind is off and my body is buzzing.

-

I walk into my apartment kick off my shoes and throw my keys into the wood bowl Jin got me to keep by the door as a housewarming present. I shed my hoodie and my bloodied shirt and fall onto the couch. It was a successful gathering tonight, there were some good bouts and no one got seriously injured and that’s all we can hope for.

I touch my lip and hiss, that kid may be young but he has a hell of left hook. I heave myself off the couch and walk the short distance into the kitchen. I grab a dish towel and a couple ice cubes and put them tentatively on my lip.

There’s a knock on my door and my heart drops to my feet. It’s four o’clock in the morning; it’s either bad news, someone I don’t want to see— or both. I don’t want to answer it but I find myself making my way to the door.

 _I know it’s him._ I grab the handle and take a steadying breath. _Why now? You’re MIA for this long and you show up now?_ I open the door and see a very tired looking Taehyung. _I fucking knew it was you._

I refuse to show him any weakness, I refuse to act like the child he thinks I am. I don’t know what he wants but whatever it is, I won’t give it to him.

“Hi-- uh, hi Kook.” He hasn’t talked to me in a month and all he says hi. _Cool._ Fucking sweet. “I have work in the morning, if you can remember that I exist come back tomorrow.” I close the door with a slam and rest my forehead against it. That’s a lie and I probably should have heard him out but I honestly might have a mental break if I have to sit through another talk where It’s implied that’d I’d _ever_ be embarrassed of my feelings towards him.

I throw the soiled towel in the bin and the melting ice cubes in the sink, making my way back passed the window. Taehyung is sitting outside staring at my door in freezing weather. The boys’ an idiot.

_I know I’m going to regret this. I know I’m going to regret this. I know I’m going to regret this. I know I’m going to regret this. I know I’m going to regret this._

I open the door and abruptly turn to go sit on the couch. It takes him a second but he gets up and makes his way inside. It’s weird having this tension over us, it’s like there’s something pressing on us making it hard to get the words out.

He takes his shoes off and takes exactly one step toward me “Kook I came over to say something and I promise it’s not like last time. I won’t tell you to forget last time, that wouldn’t be fair because I know I hurt you… but please know that’s not how I actually feel.”

It’s like I can actually see him struggling to put his thoughts together and I almost want to help him find his point because I know when he’s upset and overwhelmed this is what happens but that’s not my job anymore. Not sure if it ever really was.

“Um, I’m sorry before I start, is your face okay? Did you bust your lip?” I wave my hand at him and point at my damaged lip “I’m fine, met a kid with a killer left hook.” His eyes get wide and he wrings his hands in front of him.

“O-oh. Okay.” He says in a weak voice. “U—” It seems to take him a second to shake what I just told him, before looking at me properly again.

“Um, I’m not exactly sure how to start this. Words aren’t my strong suit, I guess that’s why I use my art to say what’s important... but _this_ it— I can’t do that and it’s so important I get everything out. Not even just get it all out but get it out right.” He takes a deep breath and I try to understand what he’s saying but I’m not used to Tae being so unsure of, well, everything.

“I believe we have soul things.” He states abruptly and almost too loud. I flick my eyes up to his face, he looks overall pained.

“Ah, shit. This isn’t going to make any sense.” He rubs his hand across his forehead until I’m sure it hurts “Keep going.” I urge him. He meets my eyes for a mere moment before sending his gaze back to the carpet.

“Um, I believe we have soul things. I think our souls are made up of the things and people we love, like all of it, everything we’ve ever loved. Love dinosaurs when your six? It’s forever a part of your soul. Have a goth phase in middle school you wish you could forget? Well sorry, that’s apart of you forever... Um. I think humans, as awful as they really are, are made out of love.” He shifts uncomfortably from foot to the other.

“So when we, as people I guess, grow our soul should too. Sometimes it’s not that easy though, how should I… Okay, have you ever wanted to watch a movie but you don’t know what movie? Or even more specifically you know what kind of movie, but you still don’t know? It’s a frustrating feeling, right? And even when you find something to watch it’s not always satisfying?” He stopped fidgeting so much so I’m guessing that’s good but I still don’t know where he’s going with this.

“So sometimes when we grow our soul does too but we come up with a blank on how to compensate for that. That’s why I think our souls, when we really love something— I think it, our soul, grabs it and doesn’t dare let that thing go. ‘Cause I mean let’s face it, human’s are stupid. We don’t know what we want or what makes us happy so when we find something that does, our soul takes you and says ‘finally you idiot, you found what we’ve been searching for. I’ve been waiting for so long.’ I think that’s why you can get nostalgia from things you’ve just found; it’s because you’re filling the hole that’s been left empty for so long.” The look on my face is probably humorous but this is really fucking… I don’t even know how to describe it.

He nods a few times to himself before taking a couple steps toward me “Your soul is searching around in the dark, trying anything, _anything_ , to fill that void. And again humans are fucking idiots, but also we’re also incredibly intricate and confusing so the holes are deep and they’re scary. God is it fucking scary, so it’s because _and for_ that reason is it almost impossible to find out what it actually takes to fill that hole.” I look at this man in front of me that _still refuses to look me in the eye_ and that word that was escaping me earlier hits me.

_Profound._

“I believe of this so fully but I realized I don’t believe in soulmates!” He raises his voice to an incredulous yell; finally, finally, making and keeping eye contact with me. “How silly is that? I mean I believe that we can have one anime that was made just for us but not one person? God! I’m a silly, ridiculous human!” He’s on the verge of freaking out and I’m not sure what I should do.

“Sit.” I point at the seat across the couch from me. _So apparently that._

He stills and slowly, hesitantly makes his way to the couch. _You’d think it has teeth._ He sits and takes a deep breath before looking at me, seemingly more put together.

“I’ve just never believed in soulmates and I don’t think it’s a numbers thing. Although if you wanna go there, _like there’s seven billion people in the world, the average person only meets 80,000 in their lifetime_ , _so what’s the chance one of those 80,000 out of those seven billion actually being your soulmate?_ And that’s just going vague. If you really want to think about it, to keep it from getting creepy we should keep the age range within a few years of each other so that cuts it down to like, uh God, to _half a billion_? That’s not even taking into account things gender or sexual preferences. What about language and culture?” Again my eyes widen at the weird, profound things he knows.

“Okay so if you lock eyes with a few dozen new people a day and if 10 percent of them are your age range... that’s 50,000 people in a lifetime. With _those_ parameters and the idea that you know your soulmate as soon as you see them, you have like, 500,000,000 potential soulmates which sounds great. In reality it means you’ll only find ‘true love’ _one lifetime out of 10,000_.”

There’s a furrow in his brow like he’s trying to make sure he’s right before he’s breathing all the stress out of his face “A world where soulmates work like that would be a lonely one and I sincerely hope it’s not the world we’re living in.” The weight of his words settle over me over me before he’s sweeping them away.

“It’s not the numbers. I mean I like math, numbers make sense to me and everything but I find no use for it in this or most aspects of life. It’s the fucking Greeks fault I doubt soulmates. Plato doesn’t know what he’s talking about and those fuckers are trying to tell me that I’ll walk around incomplete until some man sweeps me off my feet? No thanks. I am complete now. I am whole, I am intact.”

I let out a small laugh and out eyes meet again, a bashful smile on his lips.

“But the Greeks aside… Maybe I’ve been thinking about soulmates wrong. Maybe it’s more about our soul wandering around, following behind us having faith in our judgement. They follow quietly until they catch a glimpse of someone and they grab us with all they’ve got and say _‘it’s them you dumbass! So for the love of every higher power, for you and for me, for once in your life, please don’t let him go. This is it, this is our only shot, don’t fuck it up.'_ ”

He keeps eye contact, his dark eyes threatening to burn holes through me so I take the easy way out and look away.

He continues “I don’t think it’s supposed to be easy, finding them, it’s not just as easy as catching each other’s eyes. I think the person is supposed to come into your life loud and change the very ground under your feet. I think they are the bookmark in your life where the shit ends and sunshine starts. You lose your bookmark, you lose your place in life.” He starts fiddling with the keychain Yoongi got him for his birthday a couple years ago.

“Or you know, maybe what I’m saying is similar to what the Greeks were talking about, but I’m pretty sure us running around with four arms and legs just freaked the fuck out of Zeus and he _‘noped’ the fuck out of there_ and split everyone apart. Which I personally don’t blame him for, that’d be pretty fucking terrifying.” We both laugh and it’s something I missed so much.

_His laugh intertwined with mine._

He’s quiet for a while and I think that he’s finished talking until I see the furrow in his brow. I know he’s doing it again.

“I honestly don’t know if any of that made sense, but I do know that I didn’t understand this. _I didn’t understand us._ Fuck, I didn’t understand anything until a few hours ago. Namjin and Suji broke my door then my Uber got lost in a subdivision for literally two hours just like ‘Space Invaders’ road trip…” he smiles, bright and nostalgic.

“Okay I know you probably hate me and it’s five in the morning and I just rambled for the past twenty minutes and I am an asshole who ignored you but, can we please talk this out? I miss you so fucking much and it feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest.” His voice is soft, broken and pleading. He looks up at me with watery eyes “I can’t live like this.”


	12. The One Where It Gets Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post, it's been sitting in my drafts for awhile...
> 
> Not to confuse, the big italic chunks are all flash backs. There's kind of a lot of them but they're all important. 
> 
> Anywho, the next chapter is finished and should be posted asap! 
> 
> Enjoy!

{ Jungkook }

_“Dammit Yoongi open the door!” I bang on the door “I don’t have my key and it’s cold as balls out here, let me the fuck in!” I hit the door a few more times before slumping down against the door and pulling the hood of my hoodie up. “Fucking Yongo.”_

_Thirty minutes later Yoongi and Jimin come strolling down the hallway smiling ear to ear. They spot me and momentarily freeze before Jimin rushes to my side and cups my face. “Kookie, what’s wrong? Are you okay? What are you doing in the hallway?” Yoongi kneels next to him “Jesus Jimin, give him a chance to answer your questions.” Jimin gives him a pointed look but doesn’t take the bait._

_Yoongi pulls down my hood so he can see my face “Jungkookie, what are you doing out here?” He asks in that soft voice he uses when I’m scared or upset. It makes me want to cry._

_“I lost my keys and your sorry ass wouldn’t let me in.” I slur at the two concerned faces in front of me. “Kook, we couldn’t let you in. We just got here.” I wave my hand in a dismissive manner “Details.”_

_Yoongi leans back so he’s sitting on his heels and he appraises my behavior “How messed up are you?” He asks in his best dad voice “Are we talking emotionally or like hooch?” Jimin rolls his eyes and Yoongi sighs and stands. He helps Jimin up before they both haul me inside and sit me on the couch._

_“Why are you so drunk?” Yoongi asks while toeing off his shoes and receives a prompt smack on the arm from Jimin “You fucking know why, don’t ask the kid questions like that.” They start to bicker and I tune them out as I fall back on the couch._

_Why?_

_That’s a question that crosses my mind often these days, I can’t seem to shake the magnitude that those three letters hold. It’s kind of funny how I hid my love for the boy so well for so long and then I willingly ruined everything by telling him how I felt. He was so repulsed with the idea he completely cut me out of his life, I mean I guess I can’t blame him… He signed up for a best friend and what he got was someone who wanted to be so much more than that… It’s not fair to him. I don’t know why I thought he’d feel the same way; that’s not the luck I have, that’s not the life I live._

-

_“Okay I know you probably hate me and it’s five in the morning and I just rambled for the past twenty minutes and I am an asshole who ignored you but, can we please talk this out? I miss you so fucking much and it feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest.” His voice is soft, broken and pleading. He looks up at me with watery eyes “I can’t live like this.”_

I honestly don’t know what to say, I never expected this in a million years especially after the past month. I’m so confused… He doesn’t hate me? Does this mean he wants to be friends again?

“Listen Tae, it’s late and I think I got the gist of what you were saying but where does that leave us?” I take a breath, I don’t want to know the answer to this question “Why are you here?” He seems to be frozen, not really processing what I just asked him until he lets out a breath and melts into the couch.

“Okay, Kook--” He stands and starts pacing and I get a sick feeling of deja vu “I’ve never done this, said stuff like this to someone else before so I don’t know how to approach it… So fuck it, I like you. I mean to be completely upfront, I have feelings for you.” I can’t help but let out a gasp that sounds like ‘oh’ than anything else. He refuses to look at me again “You have every right to be skeptical but honestly even if you tell me right now you want nothing to do with me, _well I would probably crumble into dust, _but I would continue to have feelings for you… I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Hell, I’ve never felt like this in my entire life, these feelings are new and so fucking overwhelming and I just don’t know how to deal with it all.”__

_What the fuck is happening? What the fuck is happening? What the fuck is happening? What the fuck is happening? What the fuck is happening?_

“I know I said awful, horrible things to you at the shop and at Jin’s but I literally feel like I was walking around with my eyes closed for the past six years.” He looks at me now “I can’t apologize to you enough for all the pain I caused you, but I’m sorry. I’m _so sorry_ , Kookie.” His voice waivers on my name and I can’t help but look away.

I clear my throat and stare at the couch cushion like it’s the most interesting thing in the world “You like me?” I ask myself more than him “Yeah… yeah, I really do.” I look back at him as my eyes sting “Then why? Why did you say those things to me? Why did you treat me like that?” A rush of heat runs through me and in that moment I’m no longer sad about the whole situation, I really fucking pissed off. I realize after I’m done speaking that I am, unfortunately, crying and I was indeed yelling.

He shrinks in on himself “I don’t— I don’t know. I don’t have an excuse, let alone a good one.” His voice remains small as he sits back down next to me. “The only thing I can say is I was scared.”  
I feel myself losing my cool a little but I mean this is something I wanted for six years, six hard fucking years, and it’s all wrong. All of this got so out of hand so quickly and he treated me so poorly the past month, I don’t know how to feel now that it’s actually happening.

“Taehyung don’t you think I was fucking terrified when I told you? It took me six fucking years to work up the courage to tell you! Six years! It was the only secret I ever kept from you, you know that? When I finally put all my insecurities and anxiety and the soul crushing despair I felt every time I thought about the fact you could hate me and leave me if you ever found out aside and told you, you made me feel worthless and helpless.”

I pull at the ends of my hair, “I walked into Sorry Mom’s ready to tell you that you’re the most important person in the world to me, I spend most of my time thinking about you, I would do anything to make you happy… I walked in there and I told you you were my person and really that encompasses all of that and so much more and you treated me like a fucking child.” Tae sniffles and it almost makes me lighten up but I can’t; he has to know what he did to me, how he made me feel.

“I love our friends so much but they still treat me like I’m the same malnourished 15 year old that I was when I first met you guys. They all call me kid, child, baby, it goes on and on and it drives me fucking insane sometimes. It makes me feel small and stupid at times and what’s worse is they raised me so of course it’s how they’re going to see me that way… it’s not like I don’t love them for it, because I know I relish the special treatment everyone gives me because I’m the youngest but it still makes me feel lesser at times. Small.” I shift uncomfortably under his gaze “But you, Tae. You always listened to me. You don’t call me those things because you know how they make me feel, you know just how much it gets under my fucking skin. You understood me.” I look away from him because I don’t think I can continue this if I keep looking into his dark eyes.

“At least I thought you did, until you made me feel like a child with a petty, superficial middle school crush. I’ve never felt so fucking worthless in my entire life, Tae. I thought I fucked everything up, I thought I lost you and I just wanted to see you but I was too afraid of seeing that look in your eyes. _That fucking look of angry disappointment when all I’d done is tell you that I love you._ ” I ball my hands into fists on top of my thighs and try to fight the tears in my eyes.

-

_I get a text message so I sit up in the backseat of the Uber I’m in and fumble around until I find my phone. A simple ‘ETA?’ from Yoongi, I look out the window and gauge that I’m only a couple minutes away tops so I don’t bother texting him back._

_I lean on the seat and hiss where my jacket tore away after I sort of crashed my bike “Hey buddy, are you sure you’re okay?” The middle-aged man asks. I give him a thumbs up and regret raising my right arm. Probably a bruised rib. “Yeah, man. My dad is a nurse so I’m in good hands.” He looks relieved as we pull up to the Jin’s apartment._

_I throw the guy a thanks and head into the building._

_“Finally!” Jin says throwing the door open before taking in my appearance. “What the fuck happened to you?” His voice has that shrill tone that it gets when he is smad, sad and mad. I giggle at the word. “Don’t be smad Jinnie. It looks bad but I’m like a peach, I bruise easy ‘sall.” He’s taken aback by my current state of intoxication and ushers me through the dining room and into the living room. Yoongi’s eyes about pop out of his head when he sees me but Jin holds a hand out to stop him from engaging with me “What’s smad, Jungkookie?” I laugh at the fact I got him to say smad. “Sad and mad. Smad.” He giggles only for my benefit I think but I appreciate the effort._

_“I’m going to go get my stuff to clean you up and um, will you tell Joon what happened for me?” He looks into my eyes like it’s his fucking life mission and I don’t know if he’s trying to figure out if I have a concussion or if he just really wants me to pay attention but either way I like looking at him. “You have pretty eyes Jin.” He smiles but persists “Thank you Kookie, but will you talk to Joon now?” I sigh “I guess but it’s not a fucking entertaining story so it’s your fault when the entire room is put to sleep.” It’s then I look up and see Namjoon, Yoongi and Hobi but no Jimin or Tae. I figured Jimin would pull away from me eventually, with Tae being his best friend and all, but I thought I’d have more time before I’d have to say goodbye to him._

_“Hi Kook, you look like shit.” I smile at Joon as he replaces Jin in front of me on the coffee table. “And you’re looking breathtaking as always, my dear Joon.” He flashes his dimples at me and I can’t help but hope Jimin will come bopping around the corner. “Kook? Did you hear me?” I look away from the hallway and shake my head at him. “I said I’m glad you made it to dinner, I miss seeing you.” I pat his shoulder “I miss you too, you big squish.” Hobi laughs before Yoongi elbows him._

_“Um, Kookie, how did you get all scuffed up?” He asks gauging my reaction to being asked directly. I shrug “I guess it happened when I fell off the bike.” Yoongi seems to have kept his mouth for as long as he physically can “You tried to drive your motorcycle when you’re wasted? Jungkook what the actual fuck is wrong with you? You could have gotten someone killed!” He sits next to me “You could’ve gotten yourself killed” His voice back to a regular volume but still overflowing of emotion. “What would I have done if you did? Jesus leave it to you to make me talk about my feelings.” He sighs heavily “You’re everything to me, Kook. You’re- you’re it. You’re my family…” I seems to be searching for the right words “Ugh, God. It’s so much more than that though. You’re it. You’re my heart, you’re all of our hearts. I know it’s hard, I know.. but you just--” Joon touches Yoongi’s shaking knee so he sighs and leans back into the cushion._

_“As loud and as passionately as Yoongi expressed that, it’s true. You’re the core of our little chosen family and it hurts all of us when you hurt. I hope you can understand that.” He smooths his hair back “So can you tell me everything please?” I side eye Yoongi but nod anyways._

_“I went to this bar I’ve been going to recently to have a couple drinks and I don’t know why but I just kept drinking. I didn’t want to leave my bike at the bar because it’s in kind of a bad neighborhood so I figured it wasn’t that far from there to here so I would just take it slow and I’d be fine. I was wrong, obviously.” Jin comes back then and starts tending to my wounds “I didn’t hurt anyone unless my bike counts so it’s all fine. I’m fine, the drunks are fine, the bike… I don’t want to talk about but it’s a casualty of my own bad decisions.”_

_After Jin’s done patching me up we sit down to eat “Uh, where’s Jiminie? He never misses dinner.” Jin purses his lips “He said he had to work.” I furrow my brow “Isn’t the cafe closed on Sundays?” They all make indifferent ‘I don’t know’ sounds and gestures._

_I’ve lost him too, haven’t I?_

-

“Yoongi told me that you could never hate me, none of you could, but especially you. He told me that everything would be okay and if it wasn’t he’d make it okay… It’s such a Yoongi thing to say that I couldn’t help but believe him… but after Namjin’s dinner I didn’t know if you pitied me or hated me or both. You told me I shouldn’t be embarrassed but what a _bold fucking statement_ that was, because not once in all the time I’ve known and loved you have I ever been embarrassed by it. I was in love with the greatest damn human that walks the fucking earth and he was my best friend, what’s there to be embarrassed about?” Tae shifts on the couch “Was?” His voice startles me and I look up to his scarlet watery eyes “What?”

“You said was. _‘I was in love’_ and _‘he was my best friend’_... are these things not true anymore?” He asks with a strained voice. I open and close my mouth a couple times before landing on “I don’t know… Really I don’t.” Tae’s entire body slumps further into the nice new leather sectional compliments ala Min Yoongi.

“Why didn’t you come see me? Why did you stay away for so long?” I all but demand from him. He seems lost for words for a moment “I didn’t want to be selfish. I was only thinking about myself when I went to see you at dinner and I ended up doing more harm than good… I was just so worried that I’d damage our friendship even worse at the very least... I was petrified that I’d hurt you more.” He starts to fidget again “I was— I am a coward and by the time I started to notice that not only could I be not without you as my best friend for the rest of my life, I noticed that I was feeling all these things…” He rubs his face “I didn’t know what those feelings were, how big they really were until four of our friends literally had an intervention for me.”

“I don’t care that you didn’t have feelings for me Tae, you never had to be my boyfriend for our friendship to continue. I might be all or nothing about a lot of things but this isn’t one of them.” I’m trying to keep a cool head and I think I’m succeeding… hopefully?

“I know everything I say is going to sound like an excuse when that’s not how I mean it. Okay?” I nod. “ I was just scared. That’s a shitty excuse for being a shitty human but that’s what it was at the root of it.” He shakes his hair out of his eyes “Jimin is a lot to me, our lives seem to line up a lot. We’ve gone through the same things at the same time so there’s a sense of closeness.” I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I know Jimin is your soulmate, there’s no need to remind me.

“You’re my Kookie though. You’re someone I would drop everything for and run to if you so much as mentioned the fact that you kinda missed me. You’re so special that I honestly don’t think I can fully express to you how I feel.” His voice is so earnest and eyes so pleading that it makes my heart ache… But I can’t stop myself from wondering where all of this was a month ago.

-

_I knock on Jin’s door and pray it’s not too late of an hour to be intruding on them._

_Hobi swings the door open with a small child in his arms. My eyes are probably the size of the moon because I might be sleep deprived and emotional but I’m pretty sure I came to the right house._

_I blink my blurry eyes at him “Hobi?” My voice cracks, definitely not my finest hour. He immediately grabs me, without jostling the child might I add “Oh Jungkookie, what’s wrong?” I kind of give a little shrug, everyone already knows._

_He sits me on the couch and tells me he’ll be right back. He returns with a very tired looking Jin with a stuffed monkey clasped around his neck and Yoongi who looks a bit miffed. Damn it Hobi, that’s why I came to Jin and not Yoongi._

_“What was so important you had to pull me away fr-“ He spots me and sighs. I’ve become an even bigger burden for him to carry._

_Jin and Hobi take the seats next to me and Yoongi in front of me on the coffee table. “What’s wrong darling?” Jin asks stroking my hair softly, like he does when I’m sick. “I don’t know. This shit, this h-haze just won’t fucking go away. I fight and it’s there, I drink and it’s there, I don’t know what to do b-but I can’t keep living like this.”_

_The blurry Yoongi grabs my knee “I hate seeing you like this, bud. I know that it’s hard right now and I know that you don’t understand why Tae is acting the way he is but you can’t rush past this pain. There’s no quick fix, there’s no bandaid for something that means this much to you.” I know he’s right but it’s not what I want to hear. I can’t see Yoongi in front of me now, just the streaky lines of light from Jin living room._

_“I miss him.” Hobi hums at me and wipes at my tears “I know you do, Kook.” They’re placating me. “He didn’t have t-to feel the same way about me, I just don’t w-want him to hate me. He’s my best friend.”_

_Jin sighs “Kookie he does feel that way, he’s just stupid and scared. He’s like you were for all the years you refused to take the leap. He’ll get there love, just be patient.” Yoongi hits Jin’s leg and tells him not to tell me things like that because ‘it might be getting my hopes up’ and they start to argue. Loudly._

_Hobi takes my head off of Jin’s shoulder as he yells something like ‘it’s not the time to be passive aggressive’ and pulls me further into his side. “Hobi I just don’t get it. Why- why am I in love alone? Why am I h-hurting alone?” He makes a sound of perplexion and runs his fingers through my hair. “I’m a fucking fool… I just feel like I’m spiraling and I can’t s-stop, Hobi. Why do I have to love him? Why does it have to be him?”_

-

“I needed you.” I say looking at the new ink on my arm, the urge to cover it strong. “Do you know what the 22nd was?” I ask and I can see the realization hit him in the face. “Oh, Kook.” He starts to reach out to me but stops himself “I’m so sorry. I should have been there for you… Did you make it up there?” I nod.

“Who went with you?” He asks picking at the corner of a throw pillow Jimin got for me. “No one.” His eyes widen and his face twists like he tastes something bitter “Why didn’t someone go with you? Jimin? Or- or Hobi?”

I shake my head at him “Jimin’s been picking up extra shifts for his tuition, Yoongi’s working on a song for some K-POP star and his mixtape at the same time, Namjin was sitting Joon’s sister’s kids, and Hobi is in over is head putting together that winter showcase. I couldn’t ask anyone, so I told them I wasn’t going so they wouldn’t neglect their responsibilities just to travel 4 hours in an uncomfortable train seat, stay in a shady hotel room for two nights, just to watch me pull some weeds, replace some flowers, and have a pity party.” I lift my shoulders in a lazy shrug.

“It was fine. It’s a hard time but I’m grown, I don’t need anyone to hold my hand.” Tae looks at me before nodding, squeezing the pillow closer to his chest.

-

__I thank the woman behind the counter who hands me my ticket, smiling too wide with her disgustingly bright purple lipstick on her front teeth. I give a weak smile back and turn towards the platform that’s going to hold the train that’s going to take me to the one place in the world I least want to be right now. Especially alone._ _

__Today is the anniversary of the death of the my Father and Grandfather. It’s also my Grandfather’s birthday. I’m on my way to pay my respects and tend to where they are buried. I probably don’t do it enough, but when I do I never do it alone. I’ve actually never done it alone, ever. Yoongi used to be the one to come with me but cemeteries make him extremely uncomfortable, he has a phobia of being buried alive, it’s a long story that I’ve honestly forgotten now. I don’t make him come out of courtesy to his anxieties. Taehyung came with me ever since then. Namjoon and Jimin came one year when Tae had strep throat but he’s been there for me every time I needed him since. Until today._ _

__I called him two days ago and it went straight to voicemail. I text him with the simple request ‘If you wouldn’t mind to accompany me on the 20th, that being today, meet me at Cafe Diem at 6PM.’ He never showed. I waited 8 hours._ _

__My grandfather meant more to me than anyone else in the world, he taught me how to be a good person. He raised me before I was traded to Yoongi and Namjin to raise like some old school Pokémon cards. I restored my motorcycle with him, he taught me everything I know about photography, he really was the coolest and kindest men I’ve ever met in my entire life._ _

__My train arrives and I weigh the positives and negatives of being codependent and decide either way you go, life will suck._ _

__I get off the bus after being at the cemetery for four long and emotional hours and find the oddball high rise motel I’m staying at has a rooftop garden so I decide to unwind there after a shower up under the stars.__

__The rooftop is cozy enough but I still can’t seem to shake the tense anxious feeling clouding my mind. I know I should check my phone and stop ignoring all the people who are trying to check on me but I mean really what’s the point? Why do they care so much? What do I do to deserve this love? What do I do to be treated the way they treat me? I’m not a especially good or special person, I’m not overly considerate and I tend to make everyone’s life more complicated so why? Why do they care?_ _

__Sometimes I wish they’d all do what Tae and Jimin did and just cut me out, just leave me. They’d all be better off, Yoongi wouldn’t have to spend all his money on me and worry that I’ll have a mental breakdown if I do something as simple as break a cereal bowl. Jin and Joon won’t have to be parents in their in twenties to a grown man who should be perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Hobi won’t have to deal with my mood swings and almost constant blather about things that I know he doesn’t care about. Yugyeom, my boy Gyeomie, he won’t have to deal with a best friend who’s too selfish pull their heads out of their own ass long enough to notice that he need help. That he is hurting. He deserves better than me._ _

__I look over the side of the railing and think about how fragile human life really is. With the simple action of going over this railing it’d all be over… I wonder if anyone would actually grieve me. Would my mother even know what’s going on? Would Taehyung even care?_ _

__I back away from the railing shaking my head and decide I’ve had enough fresh air for tonight. I’m just over tired is all._ _

-

“I called you. I was humiliated and fucking furious with you but I couldn’t do that by myself, I needed you to be there for me on the worst day out of the fucking year and you couldn’t be bothered to answer your phone.” I’m crying again and I hate it. He clears his throat again, voice gruffer than usual “I broke my phone.” I look up at him, his face riddled with guilt “I was trying to text you and I couldn’t… I tried so many times and nothing was coming out right and it was all so wrong and I don’t know. My dad used to do shit like that… throw stuff around. So I guess he came out of me a bit, it’s just what I grew up with so it’s to be expected. I didn’t get a new phone until Jimin shoved one in my face saying Yoongi was sick of not being able to get ahold of me… That just happened a few days ago. I didn’t have a phone on the 20th.” I nod my head, it makes sense I guess.

“You aren’t like your dad.” I say firmly and our eyes meet briefly before we both look away “It was dark. This is the darkest part of my life and I won’t fool myself into believing that it’s all your fault but some of it is and I don’t know what to do with that.” I bring my knees to my chest and wraps my arms around them “I’m not used to you hurting me.”

He visibly flinches at that and nods. “That’s fair. I’m sorry, I really don’t think I can say that enough… even if you don’t forgive me now, I won’t stop trying to get you back in my life.” He takes a deep breath “Even if just as an acquaintance. I’ll take anything you’ll give me, I just want to be in your life.”

The prospect of Tae and I only being acquaintances is scary and not something I think I want. I’m just still so hurt with not only how he handled this situation but with how he stopped treating me like his best friend because of it.

_I don’t know what I want._

“Um, I’ll just go… for now. I don’t want you to feel pressured to say anything or d-do anything so I’ll see you around.” Tae raises to leave and though I’m still hurt and so fucking pissed I can’t let him walk out the door.

Before his hand his the handle I make the decision “Tae!” He seems startled and I now see how heavily he’s crying. “I don’t know what I can give you or if we can ever completely get back to normal but I still love you and you’re always going to be my best friend. Don’t go.”

A smile breaks out over his wet features and something in this imperfect universe seems to actually be just that, __perfect.__


	13. The One With Jimin's Second Twenty Sixth Birthday (1/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a filler chapter as it sets a few things up, I apologize! 
> 
> Enjoy!

{ Taehyung } 

“Tae!” I hear Hoseok’s voice from down the stairs and I smile. “I’m in the room!” I hear his laugh getting closer “You have to be in some room, the question is which.” He says pulling me into a hug. 

“I’ve missed you, Buddy. I feel like we haven’t seen each other in years. How’s life? How’s school? You just had that big project about love right? I was really curious about what you were going to do with that. Oh! And how’s Hyjong? He still with Hui and Hyuna? Did you guys ever find studio space? Jimin was complaining about paint being everywhere a while back, I was worried about you.” I embrace him a little longer, amused by the baraid of questions. 

“Um… It’s looking up, exhausting, I did, I’m not fully proud of it so only Jimin and Dawn have seen all of them… Dawn is good. He’s still with Hui and Hyuna, they’re happy and mushy as hell. It’s disgusting.” We both laugh. “Yoongi hooked us up with this shut in artist with a really great space downtown. We haven’t met him and Yoongi’s been dodgy on the details but I only have to give 150 a month and have a shit ton of room so I’m not complaining.” 

“I’m glad you’re doing so good, man.” He tossles my hair and sighs “How’d your talk go?” I turn my attention back to the balloons I’m blowing up. “Fine. I mean, good.” He blinks at me “Adequate, I guess.” He shifts his weight and hesitates for a moment before turning back towards the stairs. “I’m going to carry up the stuff I bought.” I pause in tying a balloon “Need help?” I hear a faint ‘nope.’ so I continue with my task. 

He makes two trips carrying tote bags. “What is all that stuff?” I ask as he falls dramatically in a chair at the table. “Some decorations, a gift from me and one from Z, snacky food… booze.” He trails off towards the end. “Tell me it’s not that Vulkan shit.” He smiles deviously “It’s Balkan 176… And hell fuckin’ yeah I did.” 

_Oh god, Jimin’s going to get trashed._

“Oh God, Jimin’s going to get trashed!” Hobi laughs loudly, busying himself putting up various decorations. “Kind of the point. He’s been really stressed lately. I figured it was okay to splurge on some since we didn’t drink it on our angels birthday.” I scoff at him “He’s not an angel. A fairy maybe, but like the kind from Harry Potter that are evil and somehow still manage to be cute.” I take a break from filling up the balloons, the room starting to spin a little “Those are pixies, but I get what you’re saying.” 

“You’re such a nerd.” I say throwing the empty plastic bag at him. “Jin and Joon got me hooked on those books. I’m not ashamed.” He smiles, starting to unpack the totes he brought. “I don’t want to push you into talking or anything but I just want to let you know that I am here… if you need… that.” He doesn’t say anything else before taking somethings to the kitchen. 

“I appreciate that but the worst has passed... right?” I say more to myself than to him as I focus on tying the last balloon. “Has it? I talked to Yoongi earlier and he said Kook seemed… lighter but you don’t seem that way. What’s going on buddy?” He asks pulling a chair in front of me, giving me his undivided attention. 

“I don’t know. I should feel lighter, right? I should feel relieved, but I don’t… It was so nice talking to him, you know just being around Jungkook today made me feel so warm and we left things on a hopeful note… But as soon I was in my Uber I felt the same, no, I felt worse. I was faced with my failure and it hurt so bad. Now I don’t know how I’m supposed to move on. I’m so worried of hurting you guys.” Hobi looks surprised “Us?” I nod.

“It’s not just Jungkook I’m worried about. I’m worried about Jimin, I mean I haven’t been there for him and I know someone hurt him the way I hurt Jungkook and he still stood by me… I’m worried about Yoongi, he has way too fucking much on his plate but he still worries about me so much. I worry about Namjoon and Jin too, they’re so domestic and normal and don’t deserve me blowing them off or having to track me down.” I hesitate “I worry… I worry about you Hobi. Junhong has been gone for six months and you’ve been running all over the place getting ready for the showcase and you still text me every couple days and called me at least once a week to check up on me. I saw all those messages and I didn’t respond, Hobi. It’s so fucking shitty and I know it is and _everytime, I did it, I wondered why I was doing it._ ” I look to the ceiling, refusing to let the tears fall. 

“Tae I don’t know how to tell you so that you’ll believe me… Just know that the only time I’ve ever lied to you is around your birthday and Christmas.” I nod at him “We did all of that shit because we love you.” I start to shake my head “Stop, let me finish. Love doesn’t excuse things but it let’s people have the room to be human. You’re not perfect Tae, you can’t have that expectation for yourself. I would go to the end of the world for you, as would everyone else in our family, even if you asked at this very moment. That’s how much you’re loved. We’ve acknowledged your mistakes, you’ve acknowledged your mistakes, you’ve punished yourself for them so we don’t have to.” He pulls me up into a hug, which I accept gratefully. 

“So when are you going to ask him out?” He asks nudging my shoulder. I push him away with a laugh “Let’s finish decorating.”

-

{ Yoongi }

I pull into a parking spot in front of Jimin and Tae’s apartment and yawn. It’s been a long day and the night’s just starting. I get out and make my way to the door. 

“Tae? Hobi?” I ask letting myself in. “Up here!” I hear Hobi yell as I slowly take the stairs. “Jesus old man, could you come up the stairs any slower?” Tae asks throwing a roll of streamers at me as I round the banister. “Yeah I probably could.” They chuckle at me. I look around and notice Jungkook isn’t around. “Where’s the kid?” 

Tae pauses in hanging streamers and looks at me “I don’t know.” Hobi walks in from down the hall “Doesn’t Yugyeom live close to here?” Tae collapses into a chair next the table “Yeah, like five minutes from here.” He rubs his eyes and yawns. 

I swear if he doesn’t show up I swear I’m going to kill him not just because it would hurt Tae but because it would hurt him too. It would probably hurt Jimin as well, so let’s just hope he can pull his head out his ass long enough to make mature decisions.

There’s a ring on the doorbell and Taehyung sighs. “That’s probably the food. I’ll get it.” He jogs down the stairs after grabbing his wallet off couch. 

“Do you need help with anything?” I ask Hobi, who’s admiring their handiwork. “No. We probably went overboard. Tae filled Jimin’s entire bathroom with balloons, blew up like 200. I thought the kid was going to pass out.” I laugh knowing Jimin is going to love that.

A very awkward looking Tae and Jungkook round the corner, a small dog in Jungkook’s arms. “Did you ring the doorbell?” I ask him. “Um, yeah.. Uh, hey Hobi! I haven’t seen you since-” He stops and shifts the puppy in his arms “Uh- I got a puppy!” He smiles widely and I shake my head. _The last time Hobi and Kook saw each other was the night he showed up at Jin’s in tears._

“Did you bring him with you?” Hobi asks jumping up off the couch and walking over to Jungkook. The dog is sleeping soundly in his arms… it’s pretty cute. “It’s nice to see you too.” He says with a laugh in his voice, handing the dog carefully over to Hoseok. Tae lingers just behind them, obviously wanting a closer look at the puppy but not being sure about getting closer or not. I watch him carefully for a moment before he ducks his head and walks past them towards his bedroom.

“Why’d you bring your creature with you?” I ask Jungkook, pulling his attention away from watching Taehyung’s retreating form. “Uh, I don’t know. You aren’t allowed to have pets at Yugyeom’s place so I really didn’t want to ask him to watch him for me without a good reason and I didn’t want to leave him alone this soon after getting him either.” He shrugs falling onto the couch next to me.

“Holly isn’t going to like him. Or you anymore.” He laughs “She already didn’t like me and she’ll get over it. They’re like cousins or some shit so she doesn’t have a choice.” I chuckle. Tae comes back down the hall in a hoodie that is either mine or Kooks but it’s been so long now I can’t remember which. 

The doorbell rings again and Tae goes back downstairs “Is that mine or yours?” I ask Jungkook to which he sighs “Mine.” I nod.

Tae yells for Hobi to help him but he refuses to put the dog down so he tells Jungkook to do it. “Yoongi, please go help him.” I roll my eyes at him “Kook, you have to establish a new normal. Do you want that normal to be avoiding each other when we all get together?” He groans and scrubs his hands down his face.

“Hobi!” Tae yells again. I raise an eyebrow “I’ll- I’ll help you Tae.” He says in a weak voice. I’m proud of him, he usually avoids awkward situations at all costs but I guess he’d do a lot of things he usually wouldn’t for Taehyung.

They brings all the food up and they put it in the oven so it retains some of its heat. “Did Jimin say when he was closing up?” I shake my head. “The guy that owns the cafe came in and he kind of seemed like a dick and we really couldn’t talk much after that so I finished my drink and left.” Tae laughs “His boss? He barely ever comes in. I can assure you that he’s anything but a dick. He’s awkward and pretty serious most of the time but he’s also pretty funny and really compassionate. And did I mention that he’s fucking hot?” I laugh at him. “I’m glad he’s not mean to his employees… and I guess he’s attractive if you’re into tall, muscular… handsome squidward types.” Jungkook busts out laughing, with everyone else following.

“No Yoongi, you’re more into short, Edward Elric mixed with Katsuki Yuuri types, huh?” They all laugh at him and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. _He thinks he’s cute_ “I don’t know what your hinting at, and how would you even know? I haven’t dated in years.” 

“That’s good to know.” We all whip our eyes towards the stairs. Jimin stands in his puffy coat and beanie, his cheeks and nose red from the cold. He smirks at me and I try my hardest not to blush, _there isn’t anything to be embarrassed about after all._

Jungkook clears his throat “Um, surprise!” Tae and Kook jump up and hug him before they realize that a group hug is just that, a hug shared by the whole group. They separate quickly and go into different rooms muttering indistinctly. I shake my head at them.

“Happy late birthday even though we already celebrated and I already gave you a gift.” He laughs “Thank you, Yoongi.” He looks at the abundance of decorations “Did you supervise them or did you let the children run wild?” Hobi gasps “I am anything but a child, sir.” Jimin spots the sleeping puppy and his eyes almost pop out of his head.

“Who’s dog is this?” He asks in a whispered yell, moving past me to the rest of the couch. “Mine. Got him today. He’s a Blue Heeler. I don’t know how old he is, he’s puppy age? And no he doesn’t have a name yet.” Kook says in one breath, coming back into the living room munching on an eggroll. 

“Okay, first I’m offended you didn’t let me ask my questions. Second, don’t adopt a dog without me; that’s a classic _‘let me invite Jimin’_ activity. Third, is that an egg roll from Wok This Way?” Tae comes back down the hallway “Yes, that is food from your weird overly Americanized chinese restaurant that’s also a cobbler.” Jimin ‘oohs’ and hurries to the kitchen.

“Wait you ordered us food from a shoe store?” I ask looking to Tae who nods. Jimin comes back in with a plateful of food “No. I mean yes, _technically_ it’s a shoe store but that’s not all that it is. The old lady who owns the place, Elise, is really sweet. I asked her about it one day when we were waiting for our food, I guess her and her husband, Desmond, started in the cobbling business because that’s what he did and yeah.” He takes a bite of an eggroll and groans “ _Still so good._ Anyways, they didn’t do well just fixing shoes but that’s what Desmond loved to do so when they realized that she made _really_ good Chinese food and people would pay for it, they just merged the businesses.”

“Wok This Way and they’re a shoe store too? That’s funny.” Hobi says trying to steal food off Jimin’s plate. “Right?”

-

After everyone had eaten Tae, Jungkook, and Hobi gave Jimin gifts and Hobi suggested we play games and drink the alcohol he brought over with him. 

“Oh, hell yeah!” Jimin yells from the kitchen “Who got the nectar of the Gods?” He comes out of the kitchen with two bottles in his hands. Hobi raised his hand. “I knew I loved you the most, Hope.” Hobi laughs “Wait, a minute Jung Hoseok! Did you buy this with the intention of getting me wasted?” He asks in an accusatory tone. Hobi laughs lightly, lifting himself off the couch “No, not the direct intention. My main intention is to drink with you guys, get a little tipsy, have a few laughs, then Uber home to my man.” Jimin looks at him with a straight face “If you would’ve bought any other alcohol I would believe you.” 

Jimin disappears back into the kitchen just to reappear a moment later, “I mean since you went through the trouble… It’s a good thing I bought the stuff for margaritas last week!” He says with a huge smile on his face.

-

“Okay if you can finish the lyrics to this final song, team-” I sigh “team Hovi loses to Jikook. What category do you want? Oldies, Rock, Country or Songs From Movies” Jungkook and Jimin put their heads together and whisper back and forth for an ungodly amount of time. “Oh my God, if you don’t pick one I’m going to disqualify you.” 

Kook gives me a dirty look but says something in a low voice to Jimin before nodding. “Songs from movies.” I raise an eyebrow but pull out the flash card nonetheless. _“Love's strange so real in the dark, think of the tender things that we were working on. Slow change may pull us apart, when the light gets into your heart, baby…”_ I read it once more before handing the card to them. They both look completely lost while Taehyung on the other hand looks like he’s about to combust. Jungkook looks up at him and you can almost see the light bulb above his head click on. 

He whispers something to Jimin really quickly and Jimin gasps and starts laughing. “Okay we’ve got it!” I wave my hand in a encouraging motion “On with it while we’re still young.” 

Jungkook takes a breath “Okay, here goes. _Love's strange so real in the dark, think of the tender things that we were working on. Slow change may pull us apart, when the light gets into your heart, baby. Don’t you, don’t you forget about me. Don’t don’t don’t don’t, don’t you forget about me.”_ Tae makes a sound that’s akin to a dying whale, while Jimin and Jungkook start celebrating. 

“I haven’t even told you if you’ve won yet!” I say interrupting the madness that erupted in front of me. “I know we did because of that.” Jimin points to Hobi consoling a pouty Tae. “You’re- Ah, yeah you’re right.” I laugh “The winner is team Jikook.” 

Jimin and Kook start celebrating again. “You cheated!” Tae accuses Jimin. “I did no such thing, you just suck at the game.” He fires back. Tae gasps “I am hurt and offended and hurt.” Kook laughs “He’s not wrong though, everytime we play this game you always say you’re more of a ‘name person’ but I know for a fact that’s a lie. You’re- you’re just no good.” Tae’s eyes light up from being teased by Jungkook “That’s not true! I am more of a name person.” They start laughing at him. “You’re the worst.” He pouts.

-

{ Jimin }

“Hobi why didn’t you tell me you bought confetti poppers!” Jungkook says rummaging through the bags of stuff Hobi brought with him. “Jeon Jungkook, if you use one of those things you’re cleaning it up piece by little piece.” 

He grins widely at me before taking a couple out and slowly walking back into the living room. He throws one to both Hobi and Tae, the three surround me. They’re about to pull the strings when Yoongi yells “Wait!” He plugs his ears and smiles “Okay, continue.” 

They count to three and pull the strings. An excessive amount of glitter and paper string comes out of colorful tubes with a loud pop. “Oh, this… is… awesome.” I look down at my arms and lap and it's indeed coated in a thick sheen of glitter. 

Tae sits next to Jungkook on the floor and motions for him to pour him another shot “Jimin- Minie, now your outside matches your inside.” They take their shots and fall over each other laughing. “I need a drink.” I say trying to shake off some of the glitter. Jungkook jumps to his feet, grabbing his head “Woah, headrush. I’ll make some more margaritas, Jiminie.” He smiles at me before jogging into the kitchen.

Hobi’s phone rings and he fumbles with it before he answers, a huge smile breaking out over his face. “Be right back.” He whispers before dashing out to the balcony. 

“Hey, Jiminie how’s the dance with Hyuna coming along? She was saying the other day it wasn’t going to well.” I sigh, once again deciding I’m not drunk enough. “Well between her shin splints and my lack of interest in our choreography, I’d say it’s going just dandy.” I sigh and lean back further into the couch cushions.

“Min, you get to dance in an organized event like once every year if you’re lucky. If you hate what you’re doing, what’s the point?” Tae asks me leaning against the entertainment center. I sigh and glance at Hobi who’s pacing our balcony on the phone with who I’m assuming is Junhong. “Ah, I see.” Yoongi says from his place across from me.

“You see dead people?” Jungkook asks handing me a fresh drink before flopping back down next to Tae. “No, our Park Jiminie is being an angel and he’s sacrificing his own happiness in the process of doing so.” Yoongi says stretching out more on the couch. “What’s he talking about?” Jungkook asks Tae in what’s supposed to be a whisper.

“It’s really not because of him, Yoongi… I gave my word to Hyuna to do this with her. It would be impossible to-” Hobi slides the door open with a smile on his face. “Nothing’s impossible. The word you’re searching for is _improbable._ ” He says with a smile, sitting in-between Yoongi and I. 

“Nothing, Hobi. It’s nothing important..” I say taking a drink and sighing. “Finish the sentence. It would be impossible to...” Yoongi probes. I roll my eyes “Yoongi drop it.” I start brushing glitter of my arms and chest when Hobi clears his throat. “You want me to go back out on the balcony?” 

I look up and see Hobi looking incredibly uncomfortable. He always gets really needy and paranoid when he gets tipsy so I don’t know why I’m surprised. “No, Hobi.” I send a dirty look to Yoongi, who looks particularly smug. 

“It would be impossible to come up with new choreography in time. I’ve worked on this choreography for the past 6 months and although it’s perfectly fine, it just makes me feel like I’m.. I don’t know… and that’s the problem it doesn’t make me feel _anything_. Maybe that doesn’t make sense but that’s why I put up with my shitty job and going to school for something that melts my brain. I put up with it because when I’m done with those things I get to dance and that’s when I feel things… I sound like a robot, oh God.” I take a breath 

“I just live so much of my life not having passion about anything I’m doing and it just sucks the life out of me so when I dance, I don’t know I just feel like I’m actually living… Living for something, living for anything, living for nothing… and- and I don’t know… I don’t know why I’m humoring you.” 

It’s silent for a long time so I get up to go pee or wipe off this fucking glitter or do both or just get away from this feeling of being judged.

“Jimin wait.” Hobi says, his fingertips brushing my arm. I look at him and his eyes are watery but there’s something hard set in them. “I’m sorry Hobi. Forget about what I said, I’m hap-” He grabs my wrist and pulls me down next to him.

“You’ll do no such thing. Jimin, you should have come to me when you first started feeling like this. I’m the director of this showcase but I’m also your friend, _your family._ ” I nod, looking into my cup. “I know how much you put up with just to get 30 minutes in the studio, I know how fucking hard you work for everything you want. I’ve been there to drag you into my office when you’ve passed out in the practice rooms.” My eyes snap up to his and then flick my eyes to Yoongi quickly. “Pass out is an extreme way to put it... Last time that happened I had just worked a double. I fell asleep, ‘sall.” I give a weak laugh.

He grabs my hand “Jimin, I’m not judging you. I’ve been through these struggles, I can understand your pain. When you have some time, I’d like to sit down with you and talk more about my past. We’re very alike and if you don’t want to do the choreography with Hyuna then we’ll figure it out. I’ll help you with a new routine and there’s a couple people who didn’t make the cut and I’m sure they’d love to fill in for you.” I honestly don’t know what I’ve done in my life to deserve these wonderful people but whatever it is, I hope I don’t mess it up.

“I-I don’t know what to say. You’re the best.” I hug him “I love you.” He groans and pushes me away. He looks down at himself and I seem to have rubbed off on him quite a bit. I stifle a giggle and he smiles at me before pulling me back in.

{ Taehyung }

By the time Hobi calls it a night it’s four AM and most of the vodka has mysteriously disappeared. Everyone is feeling the effects of the alcohol and sleep deprivation as we say our goodbyes to the man. 

“Text me when you get home so I know you made it there safe!” Jimin yells down the stairs after him. We hear an indistinct reply and the door closing. I look back into the living room and Yoongi is laying on the floor with his eyes closed humming loudly and off-key while Jungkook is across the living room, throwing mini marshmallows at him. Jimin turns from beside me and slowly makes his way back to them, shedding his hoodie on the way. 

I sigh at the action, but at least I know where everyone is in their level of intoxication. In our family we’re all pretty ‘fun’ drunks when we don’t have something weighing us down. Our drunken traits tend to vary depending on the level and type of alcohol but there are some things that don’t change as well. As I look over the three men lazing around my living room, I smile thinking about all of the shenanigans I’ve gotten into with all of them. Yoongi is a _‘I’m not even that drunk’_ type of drunk. He sings if you get him drunk enough which never happens. He also finds Jin’s jokes funny which is pretty rare as well. 

Jungkook is what you would call an ‘infantile drunk’. Kook not usually being a touchy-feely sort of guy loves to hug, lean, lay, hold, ect. with whoever is closest to him. He also has a tendency to disappear and return with food or small animals. ( _There’s also an indecent amount of shrugging when you put a drunk Yoongi and Jungkook together_ ). 

Drunk Jimin, _or Diminie_ , I’ve had the most experience with and is always a good time. He become a blushy, giggly mess. He always calls people the funniest things that are so creative, I’d say he rivals Leslie Knope. To elaborate further the three biggest characteristics of a drunk Jimin is he’s a massive flirt, he’s clingy as hell, and blacks out almost every single time he drinks more than a couple drinks. 

“Tae come take a shot with me!” Jimin yells from where he’s propped up against Yoongi’s extended legs. I ungraciously fall down next to him, Yoongi groaning when I accidentally elbow him in the side. “I am a person not a chair.” Yoongi says kneeing me in the back. “Pipe down, old man.” Jimin says with a snicker. 

“ _Me old?_ You old!” Jungkook laughs “The grammar in this conversation is on point.” I laugh. “Shut it.” Yoongi says throwing a marshmallow back at Kook. 

“Oh! We should play cranium! We haven’t played in a millennia!” Kook says jumping up and running to the closet by the staircase. Yoongi comments that _‘a millennia is a long time’_ while Jimin starts throwing marshmallows into his mouth. “Hey be careful getting those down, there’s a bunch of random crap on top of the game boxes.” There’s some strained noises and then the sound of things crashing to the ground. 

“Ow.” I sigh “You alright, Kookie?” He comes into the room with a feather boa around his neck and three game boxes in his arms. “What the hell is around your neck?” Jimin asks him. “A feather… scarf, no, necklace thing, string. Mmm ascot?” Jimin falls into my shoulder laughing “How do you remember the word ascot but not the word boa?” He shrugs as he settles in across from us.

“C’mon, let play.” He says in a whiney voice.” Yoongi pats my back to have me move over. “Spoiled.” Jimin and I say at the same time. Jungkook makes his hands into fists and bumps the side of them together. “You did not just Friends flip us off!” Jimin says pushing Jungkook’s shoulder. “So what if I did.” I smile at him as he unpacks the boardgame. Yoongi flips him off “Oops.” Jimin cracks up, leaning heavily into Yoongi. 

I look at the both of them and smile, their friendship is adorable but I think they could be more. It's been a long time since I’ve seen Jimin like this. I know both of them are stubborn as hell and they both barely have time to breathe but I know with a little meddling, they really could be something great.

“Hey how about the teams be: Kook and me and you and Yoongi?” I ask fiddling with one of the di. Jimin pouts “We haven’t been on the same team all night, Tae.” He drags out the ‘a’ sound in my name and I can’t help but smile. “Yeah but when we used to play, Taekook was always a team.” 

I dare to look up to Jungkook and he’s looking at me with a small smile on his face. I was really worried when I started putting everything together for this little party tonight it’d be awkward and maybe a little tense, but it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be. There’s been moments where I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me but for the most part it’s only been mildly awkward.

“Ugh, you’re the worst. Taekook is the worst. Yoonmin forever.” He groans, throwing his head back against the couch. “What the yell is a Yoonmin?” Yoongi asks. Jimin giggles “It’s us. ‘Yoon’ from you, ‘min’ from me.” His cheeks a light shade of red looking at Yoongi intently. 

“Yoonmin. Yoonmin. Yoooonmin. It’s a weird word.” Yoongi says grabbing the dice to roll. “I like it.” He gets a 3. Jimin hums in agreement and rolls after him, he rolls a 6. Jungkook and I roll, we both get 7. 

“We get to go first!” Jungkook bounces in place, it cute he always gets so excited playing this game. I think back to the time we beat Jin and Hobi so bad they decided that we cheated somehow and swore they were never playing the game with us again. “Wait!” Jimin says suddenly, throwing himself across the couch to get to his phone. 

He scrolls for a minute before clicking repetitively. “Ah you stupid thing work.” Yoongi glances at him “Music?” Jimin nods. “Make sure the sound is on.” Jimin mumbles something that sounds like ‘you’re a genius’ and then music floods the room. 

Yoongi makes a run to the kitchen to grab some chips and candy for me and Kook and to refresh all of our drinks. “Fucking finally. You walk like a turtle, Yongo.” Kook says straightening the cards on the board. “Yeah, yeah. You bunny rabbit lookin’ little shit.” We all laugh for a good 5 minutes before focusing back on the game.

Jungkook and I start, passing the first challenge with ease. Jimin gasps suddenly beside me and lunges for the remote to turn up the volume when ‘Baby Don’t Stop’ by Titan comes on. He starts swaying to the music, softly singing along as he plays his turn. “I produced this song.” Jimin whips his head around so fast I’m surprised it didn’t fall off.

“You did what?” He squeaks out. “I produced this song.” He shrugs and continues “I worked with Titan, _Taeyong and Ten that is_ , when they were just starting out and I was just a freelancer working out of Namjoon’s grandma’s garage. When they decided to make their new album they came to me and told me no one else could do it.” He sighs watching Jungkook move the game piece. “They’re nice kids.”. 

When he stops talking Jimin stares at him speechless. I always forget that Jimin doesn’t know how deep Yoongi is into the music business. “I- that’s so- I love them.” Yoongi chuckles. “Next time I see them, you could come with me. We always end up going out to get some wings and drinks.” Jimin looks like a kid in a candy shop. “Oh my god, really?” He asks a bit too loud before I put my hand on his knee, a quiet reminder to chill “I mean yeah, that’d be cool.” Yoongi laughs and tells him a bit more about them, Jimin eating it up like candy.

I laugh at the interaction as I roll the dice for the third time. I land on a Data Head: _What do you call a layer of paint and something you wear outside when it’s cold?_ I read the card to Kook and he thinks for a moment before it hits him; “Coat!” He has a tendency to get louder the later it gets and that’s only exasperated by the alcohol. I laugh and nod my head. We smile at each other before I see something in his eyes harden and he looks away.

Baby Don’t Stop plays again and Jungkook groans “How many times is this song on your playlist?” Jimin scratches the back of his neck “I don’t know. This is the Thai version, so it’s different from the other one… It’s one of my favorite songs. I warm up to it a lot.” 

I smile thinking of the times he used to dance at my old art studio, singing this as he stretched “He sounds really good singing it too.” Yoongi makes a questioning noise, taking a drink of his margarita “Does he now?” Kook nods “Jimin has a really soothing voice, he used to sing me to sleep.” 

“Um Min, have you ever thought of using this song for an actual routine?” Jimin ponders that for a moment, chasing his straw around his cup. “No, but that’s not really a bad idea. I do love this song thoroughly.” 

I start to put together pieces of a plan in my mind, watching Jimin mouth the words to the song. 

“You guys should do a cover!” Kook all but yells. I smile because like always, we are on the same page. “Yes! Do that!” I point at Jungkook then point at them. Yoongi immediately starts shaking his head “No, no, no. That’s not going to happen. That’s nope. I mean no.” 

I look at Jimin who is sucking down the rest of his margarita at an alarming rate. “Jimin, thoughts?” He looks at me over the side of his huge salt rimmed-glass then his eyes slide to the two other men in the room. “Well… I mean I would love to dance to this. It inspires me but I don’t think I’m good enough to sing it and have it actually sound good… so no.” He trails off and starts picking at the blanket laying across him.

“Bullshit. Let’s make a bet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a couple things:
> 
> -Titan is indeed Taeyong and Ten from NCT
> 
> -The song Jikook guessed was Don't You sang by Simple Minds
> 
> -The movie it's from is The Breakfast Club


	14. The One With Jimin's Second Twenty Sixth Birthday (2/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some interesting anecdotes in the end notes. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_{ Taehyung }_

_“Well… I mean I would love to dance to this. It inspires me but I don’t think I’m good enough to sing it and have it actually sound good… so no.” He trails off and starts picking at the blanket laying across him._

_“Bullshit. Let’s make a bet.”_

Jimin eyes me from across our forgotten game of Cranium, we tend to get over competitive when it comes to petty bets like these and I know the alcohol is going to work in my favor. “What kind of bet?” He asks sitting up straight.

Yoongi starts shaking his head “No, no, I’m not getting pulled into this.” Jungkook laughs. We all turn to look at him, the man having been quiet for some time. Yoongi narrows his eyes at him. “Got something to say, Jungkook?” Jungkook shakes his head with a chuckle “It’s nothing. It’s just I remembered that piece of advice you gave me when I turned 18, you said _‘You’re a man now Jungkook. The best advice I can give you is don’t take a bet you know you’re going to lose. Always remember that’_. Ah, such sage advice, from such a wise man.” I choke on my margarita, while Jimin is practically vibrating trying to hold back his laughter.

_“Afraid you’ll lose, old man?”_

Yoongi sighs. “What’s the fucking terms?” I smile at him. “Here’s what I was thinking: we play a game of Cranium, we win we get what we want, you win you get what you want.” Yoongi tilts his head “That’s pretty vague Tae, I was asking what you want if you win.” Jungkook shakes his head “And let you have time to back out? No way. We play, then we lay the terms.” Yoongi is silent for a moment before relenting. “Fine. But I have one condition: Jin has to okay whatever we come up with before it actually happens.” Jimin turns to look at him “Why Jin?” Yoongi sighs “Because we’re all smashed and they could come up with something insane like I have to shave my head, but I have a mixtape coming out soon and I can’t promote looking like fucking Mr. Clean. Jin is a sadist but he’s not evil. They, on the other hand, are.”

“I-- I can’t argue with that.” I nod at Yoongi and glance at Jungkook who has a devious smile on his face. “I’m 100 percent in,” Jungkook says leaning back on his hands.

“ _I bet you are,_ ” Jimin says rolling his eyes. “I’m in too, I guess.” He says in a huff. Yoongi gulps down the rest of his drink “Let’s get on with it then.”

I look to Jungkook “Remember our trip to Jeju with Jin and Hobi?” I ask him in a soft voice. He nods slowly, his smile widening as he understands what I’m saying. “We’ll be banned.” He smiles softly at me and my heart aches.

“Worth it.”

-

“Stop fucking cheating!” Jimin yells, hitting Jungkook’s shoulder as he moves the game piece. “We aren’t cheating Jimin. What you see before is a combination of skill and a fierce determination to beat both your asses.” Yoongi groans from beside Jimin.

“This has to be against the rules!” Jimin exclaims, roughly running his hand through his hair. “You guys have gone six times in a row. We haven’t even touched the game piece!”

“Jimin, chill. Their lead is temporary. They suck.” Yoongi sighs leaning back against the couch. Jimin nods “ _Yoonmin forever.”_

-

“I don’t know why we’re still playing, they’re obviously gonna to win. This ‘ssuch crap.” Jimin’s words slur together a bit and I laugh as I move the game piece to the last place on the board.

“Aw, _Diminie_. Don’t be pouty.” He flips me off and takes another drink. Jungkook is still very much into the game but has attached himself to the side of Yoongi. Yoongi seems unbothered, years of exposure to this seems to have created a tolerance for this sort of shenanigan.

I hurriedly draw a bee on the small pad of paper, which Jungkook guesses right away, and that secures our second win in Cranium where the other team didn’t get to play one single turn. Jungkook is over the moon, he leaves Yoongi’s side and pulls me into a hug. I tense in his hold, not because I don’t want the intimacy, but because I know he wouldn’t do this if he was sober. I pat his back a few times and remove the clingy, but _oh-so-happy_ , boy in front of me.

I look to the other two in the room and realize that Jimin has replaced Jungkook laying across Yoongi. I start to feel sorry for the man until I look to his face to find it a light shade of pink.

“So what are you gon’ make us do?” Jimin asks blinking slowly. Jungkook smiles brightly at them, not even taking a second to converse with me before saying “You have to cover “Baby Don’t Stop”, _with Yoongi_ , and then dance to it in the showcase.” I nod.

Yoongi pinches the bridge of his nose while Jimin’s eyes grow at least 4 times larger. “I’m not okay with that! Jin’s never going to agree to this! He understands that- that I work with Taeyong and Ten, they’re colleagues of mine for fuck's sake. I can’t just be like _‘Hey I lost a bet, let me cover your song’_.” He jostles Jimin, who groans in return.

“It’s not that big a deal Yoon, I’ve met them and they’re super nice. You can’t back out of a bet.” Yoongi sighs at Jungkook “You don’t understand Kook-” He starts, helping Jimin sit upright. “I understand perfectly. Min Yoongi ‘scoward and can’t be trusted. Who would’ve thought?” He asks leaning back into my chest. I stifle a laugh “Yoongi, if you really think this would be too inappropriate then we can come up with something different… I’ve always wanted to see Jimin with pink hair.” I assure him.

Jungkook gets excited again, shooting up and ramming the top of his head into the bottom of my jaw. I lean back in pain, and while Yoongi and Jimin seem to find it hilarious. Jungkook twists around to look at me, he seems rather unphased by any sort of pain and he crowds me “Oh God Tae, you okay? Jesus Christ my huge head. Lemme look.” He takes my jaw in his hands gently, tipping my head back rolling it side to side to inspect the damage.

I go along with his rather silly treatment because it reminds me so much of our relationship before. All night a pit has been settling in my stomach because we’re so close to being normal, but I don’t know how to start chipping away at the wall we’ve built between us.

“Mm ‘sreally red right here” he lightly touches the very edge of my chin “You need to ice it.” He says blinking at me. I give him a small smile “It’s alright Kookie, it’s just a bump.” I run my hand through the back of his hair before I think better of it. I remove it promptly. “You’ve seen a lot worse these days haven’t you?” I ask raising an eyebrow.

He giggles, leaning back slightly so we can properly look at each other. “I wondered how long it would take you to say something... What do you think about it?” I’m surprised he asked my opinion on the matter but I’m so pleased he still cares what I think.

“Well… I mean as long as you’re safe, I don’t really see anything wrong with it.” He rolls his eyes at me. “That’s the most generic answer I’ve ever heard in my life, Kim Taehyung. You are one of the most opinionated people I’ve ever met,” Jimin pipes in an _‘Amen to that’_ , I throw a pillow at him. “So give me your real opinion.”

He looks from the ground to my eyes and keeps them there. I fumble for words for a moment, so afraid of scaring him off, but he wanted this so I’ll give it to him.

“It makes me scared. I know you’re responsible, I know Hyuna is responsible but it still scares the fuck out of me... I mean fuck, you go and get the shit beat out of yourself _on purpose_.” I look away and lean further back.

His grip on my hoodie doesn’t allow me to go far, but it allows me some air to breathe. “You started it when we weren’t talking. You started something where, you-“ I connect back with him because this has been weighing heavy on my mind. “you hurt yourself when we weren’t, _when I wasn’t,_ in your life. I wasn’t able to be there for you… and that hurts me.”

I sigh and drop my eyes to my lap where my hands are fidgeting with one another. “I don’t mean to make this about me, but I worry about you a lot.” Yoongi now speaks up with _‘That’s the fucking understatement of the century’_ , I send him a look and he raises his palms in surrender. “I worry about you and I just hope that this Fight Club isn’t bad for you, you know as bad emotionally as it is physically.”

I rub the back of my neck and try to gauge his buzzed reactions, but come up blank “What I’m trying to say is, it depends on why you do it. Just… don’t fight because you need to escape something. You have a lot of people you can go to and will be there for you; they’ll give you chocolates and hot tea and help you through your problems and not just hit you in the face.”

He seems to mull over everything I’ve said before looking at me “Can I come to you?” He asks simply. The question catches me off guard but gives me a spark of hope in my chest.

“Of course you can, Kook.” I say in a soft voice.

“I mean can I come to you even if the problem _is you_? Can I come to you if I don’t understand why you treated me like a kid? If I’m having a hard time accepting your excuse of being scared as a reason to why you pushed me away? Can I come to you if it’s 3AM and it’s too quiet in my house and the only person in the entire universe I want to see is you?” He asks in a voice that’s just above a whisper.

He finishes and I realize how close he got to my face, our nose only an inch or two apart. The only thing I can respond with is a breathless “Yes”.

He must deem that acceptable because he pulls away and flips back around to lay his back on my chest again.

“Are you guys done flirting? Yoongi’s tired and won’t get up to get the other bottle of Valkan so we can play quarters. It’s my birthday so I don’t have to-” Yoongi rolls his eyes “Your birthday was like three weeks ago, Jimin.”

Jimin puts a finger to Yoongi’s mouth, effectively shushing him and continues “ _It’s my birthday so I’m not going_ ” He says pointedly at Yoongi “So yeah, do the thing. The nose thing. _Nose goes_ ”

Jungkook ends up poking himself in the eye so I decide to take one for the team and go get the rest of the refreshments from the kitchen.

-

“Taehyung!” I crack my eyes open the slightest bit “Tae!” I groan and open them further searching the room for Jungkook. He’s nowhere to be found. “Kim Taehyung!” I slowly rise from the couch and laugh at Yoongi and Jimin sitting on the floor watching Lilo and Stitch.

“Taeh-” I push the door to my room open “I’m right here, Jesus Christ, lower the volume.” He smiles at me slightly and falls back on the mound of pillows that has a home on my bed. I look at the end of the bed and his dog is snuggled in between two pillows and several blankets. It’s a lovely sight really. “Come here, let’s talk.” He says holding open the covers.

Something in my stomach twists at the words but I try to keep an open mind. After all, he’s too wasted to have one of _those_ kinds of talks right? _Right?_

I climb in the bed and he glues himself to my side, tucking his face in my neck. After some time a muffled “I missed you.” breaks the silence. I bring a hand to the back of his head and hesitate before stroking his hair. _This is okay, right?_ I worry before I close my eyes and sigh, giving in to the urge to comfort the boy.

“I missed you too, Kookie.” I pause. “I um, I was serious earlier when I said you could talk to me you know that, right?” He hums, barely nodding his head. I’m content to lay here with him as long as he knows that. I lay my cheek on the top of his head.

“I thought you didn’t love me.” He says in a drowsy voice. “I thought I told you and you wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I knew that wasn’t you though, I kept telling myself that you love me more than that, that you’re a better person than that, that we were stronger than that. I fought with myself a lot. I really questioned if I knew the real you, the especially after the thing at Namjin’s.” He readjusts so he can look at me. “I prayed that I was wrong. I prayed that you loved me, that you would come into my room complaining about the cost of pastels or how your art history professor says the word mauve and ask me to cuddle you ‘until the world was right again’ and that you’d tell me it was all a nightmare.” I rub my thumb across his cheekbone and his eyelashes flutter.

“You’re doing this... “ His eyes shoot up to mine, and his eyebrows furrow, “You said all of that because you wanted to right? Not because it’s what I wanted to hear?” I pull my head back further so I can really look at him “Of course, Kook. I said all of that because I really, truly mean it.” He smiles at me, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

“Are you going on the road trip next month?” He asks tucking his face back into my neck “I’m trying to get off but the Dumbass Diplomat™” I chuckle at him and add _‘this is a verbal conversation Kook’_ but he pays me no mind, “he’s being an ass about it. I work so hard for that douche and he just doesn’t get it. He waltzes through expecting me to be a nanny, a maid, a chauffeur, and shit, man. That’s not what I am. I’m muscle.” I give his bicep a squeeze and he giggles.

“I mean ‘snot that I mind taking care of Aeris necessarily. I love that kid but at the end of the day, my top priority is to make sure they’re safe. I can’t do that if I have to entertain a seven-year-old. If he would just let her go to school instead of homeschooling her or even get a nanny that’s young enough that she can look at them as a friend and not just another adult that tells her what to do, that would help her ‘smuch. Ugh anyway, I’m not too worried about it though, Aloysia always comes through for me in the end.” He looks up at me “So are you going?”

I laugh at him softly “I don’t know what road trip you’re talking about Kook.” He looks up at me confused before a look of sheer panic breaks out over his face. “Um… It’s- Uh, maybe I’m mistaken.” He looks away. I laugh at him as his face gets increasingly more red “What road trip Kookie?” I ask pinching his cheek.

He sighs, “I told them it was a fuckin’ bad idea to tell me so long before it happens.” He says sitting up. I follow suit. “Okay, shit..” He rubs his face “If this makes it back to Jin or Yoongi I’m saying you got me drunk and tricked the information out of me.” He says pointing a finger at my chest. I nod. “Okay, next month from the 13th to the 19th, they planned a trip down to Uljin. They got this house on the coast, it’s gorgeous. It’s really close to this ho-” He slaps a hand over his mouth “I’m not telling you anything else. I’m serious Taehyung. When they tell you, you better act surprised or they will kill me.”

I smile at him, “Don’t worry Kook, I’ll act surprised. They won’t suspect a thing. Chill.” He smiles at me softly, pushing my shoulder. Jungkook’s dog waddles his way up to where we’re sat on the bed and climbs his way up to my lap. I coo at the dog and Jungkook huffs.

I look up at him and smile “What is it, Kook?” He ruffles the animal's hair with a pout on his face “He likes you more than me. You also haven’t answered my question.” I roll my eyes “He doesn’t like me more, he likes the giant fluffy pillow on my lap.” I look down at the sleeping dog and smile. “As for the trip, I don’t know. I’ll be on break but I really need to start working more.”

I brush the hair from my eyes and look up at him “How do Hobi and Jimin have time for something like this? That’s literally like right before the showcase.” He shrugs “I don’t know, honestly. I know that Hobi has everything set with it though, so he just has to put out fires as they pop up.”

He yawns, rubbing his eyes. “I um, really hope you think about going, though…” He says in a sleepy voice. I smile at him “I’ll try to make it work.”

-

It’s hours later when I mosey into the kitchen to get a drink to take something to dull the throbbing in the side of my head. I find Yoongi and Jimin with an ungodly amount of snacks around them, the bottle of vodka between them, and playing cards in their hands.

“Minnie ‘syour turn lay a card down.” Yoongi slurs. Jimin laughs and runs his fingers over his cards several times before laying down. Yoongi squints at him then puts a card down over his immediately. I lean against the fridge and watch them play. I recognize the game they’re playing is ‘Bullshit’. It’s a game that we don’t break out too often during our game nights because when we get, _well messed up,_ Jungkook and Hobi tend to get really paranoid so they lose very very quickly. That paired with Namjoon’s superhuman ability to tell when one of us is lying the game devolves into chaos and it’s best to be avoided.

“Bullshit!” Jimin yells, breathless, falling over and pink-cheeked. Yoongi busts out laughing. “Oh, my god ‘sfunny to hear you curse.” He says clutching his sides. Jimin grabs the sides of his face as if trying to cool his flaming cheeks. “It’s funny- ‘sbecause your face ‘slike that,” Yoongi says reaching out and booping Jimin’s nose.

I do my best to stifle my laughter, Jimin, however, furrows his brows “How is my face?” He says touching his face more, squishing his cheeks. That seems to spur Yoongi’s laughter on, he takes a deep breath and wipes his eyes. “It’s you know- _shit. It’s fuckin’ pretty_.”

I swear Kool-Aid comes out of my nose. I start coughing, trying to clear my airway, and they pay me no mind. Jimin’s face might as well be a rose, it’s so red and Yoongi’s not faring much better. Jimin clears his throat, flipping the card which is the right number and it’s Yoongi’s time to cuss. “How do you have me pegged? Dammit!”

He grabs the bottle and takes a big gulp. He hisses and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Shuffle, let’s go again.” I shake my head at them, refilling my cup before heading back to my room.

Jungkook is laying on my bed, almost certainly asleep, so I quietly creep into my side of the bed. I lift his dog, _who I’m now referring to as Haku_ , from the middle of the bed and slide under the covers. The small dog nuzzles under the blanket and curls into my side.

We had spoken about the dog's name earlier, me insisting that he give the poor thing a name as soon as possible.

_“How about Akamaru?” He asks moving to lay on his stomach so he’s eye level with the sleeping fuzzball. “That’s a bit on the nose don’t you think?” I ask ruffling his hair a little. He’s quiet for a while “How about Pakkun?” I laugh at the boy “Jungkook, pull your head out of Naruto’s ass for a minute and pick a better name.” He narrows his eyes at me and lets his head fall onto his folded hands._

_“How about Toshinori? Toshi for short?” I ask him. He looks up at me through his eyelashes “Like All Might?” I nod and he makes a disagreeable nose. “Aizawa? Zawa for short.” He considers this longer before shrugging._

_“This is hopeless. I’m never going to be able to pick. I’m an awful dog owner, I’m going to ruin his life. He’s going to grow up not having a name, in turn not knowing who he is. Oh my god, why did I think I could handle taking care of another living being? Oh man, I’m _so_ drunk.” I consider different names, taking in the adorable pouty Jungkook in front of me. _

_After awhile it hits me “I got it! How about Haku?” His eyes light up and he takes the animal from me, nuzzling their faces together saying the name. “That might just be it.” He smiles._

I close my eyes, feeling the heavy presence of sleep start to crowd my consciousness. Jungkook shifts so he’s pressed directly against my back, an arm thrown over both me and Haku.

“I like his name. It reminds me of growing up, the good parts of that that is, and Yoongi, and you. It reminds me of those two weeks you and Yoongi took care of me because I had the chicken pox.” He yawns, his voice getting steadily more drowsy “You convinced Yoongi to let me watch it as many times as I want.”

I smile, pulling Haku closer and in turn pulling Jungkook closer. He sighs, squeezing my wrist once before I know this time for sure, falling asleep.

“ _Goodnight, Kookie.”_

_Tonight was one of the best I’ve had in six months. I just have to pray to any higher power, I don’t screw this up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few things of note:
> 
> -Bullshit is a real card game and really does breed paranoia. I recommend it for your next game night.
> 
> -Haku is the man character from the Studio Ghibli movie Spirited Away. Jungkook has talked about loving it on a couple occasions, I recommend it for your next movie night.
> 
> -The Yoonmin arch I have planned is about to start and I'm excited. Get ready for some dancing, jealousy, a bit of NCT and a lot more Hobi.


	15. The One With The Chocolate Orange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Hi everyone, happy new year!  
> • A few things of not before we get started,  
> • There’s a part where a character gets talked to in a derogatory way, so if that’s triggering, you can skip this chapter and be fine starting on the next one.  
> • This is kind of a filler because I chopped this chapter in half so the next chapter is where the plot starts progressing.  
> • Get ready for all the Yoonmin fluff you can handle, because it’s coming ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈ )

_{ Jimin }_

I slide the muffin across the table to Yoongi and he looks at it with distaste. “No Yoongi, come on. Don't look at it like that. You have to try it. This muffin comes with one hilarious ass story. _So. Try. It._ ” I push it further towards him so the plate bumps his elbow.

“Jimin. Listen here, I enjoy spending time with you, but if you’re going to drag me out of bed at the crack ass of dawn just to push stale, bland, ass pastries at me- I’m sorry but we can no longer be friends. I still haven’t gotten over that time you got the salt and sugar mixed up when you made those cookies.” He narrows his eyes at me.

“First of all _Sugarplum_ , it’s one o’clock in the afternoon, not ‘ _the ass crack of dawn_ ’. Second, I made these muffins- _correctly_ , and this is the last one. They’re the most popular item on the menu, thank you very much.” I sigh looking at the muffin, slowly losing its heat “ _Fine_. I’ll eat it and keep my funny anecdotes to myself.”

Yoongi sighs grabbing the plate and swatting at my hand. “Get off. It’s mine. Now tell me all your dotes.” I smile at him, taking a drink of my coffee.

“Well, here’s what happened. It was the first night I was making the muffins- last Tuesday I think, and they were still in the oven and I was at the bar fixing signs for the next day. There were only like maybe three or no… It was only Mio and Kiku, _you know that really sweet Japanese couple that just moved here_ , and then this group of European kids that had to be no older than Jungkook.”

I watch him eye the muffin before ripping off a piece of the top and nodding appreciatively. “Anyways the oven dings, so I take the muffins out and bring them to the front to cool.” I start to giggle before the words even come out of my mouth, Yoongi meets me with an impatient stare.

“Okay, okay.” I take a deep breath “This one kid, _who ordered in broken Korean because I said I wasn’t fluent in English_ , she says ‘Yum, I smell a chocolate orange’ and the girl sitting next to her, deadpans “ _No Megan, you fat cow, it’s an actual orange_.” Yoongi gives me the reaction I was looking for, he laughs unabashed and all gums.

“Coffee came out of my nose! I had the run to the back because I was choking, Mio and Kiku were seriously concerned.” This only makes Yoongi laugh harder. “I’m telling you man, we must have the best and weirdest Yelp page because all of our customers are quirky foreigners.”

Yoongi scoffs a laugh at that “I’m serious, there was this one American couple the other day that had this thing with the pumpkin pie, it cracked me up...” I see him check his phone for the third time since we sat down so I trail off. I clear my throat and look around the cafe.

Amber, a friend I met through Taehyung and quickly recommended to The Boss Man when we had an opening, is working the mid-afternoon shift with me today. It’s getting pretty busy again so I should probably help her.

“Well I should, uh- probably get back to it. Amber probably needs help.” This seems to pull him back to the present “Already? I thought your break was an hour, it’s only been like 10 minutes.” I sigh “Yeah I know, but Amber just started and she probably shouldn’t go through the lunch rush by herself.” He nods, taking a drink of his coffee.

I can’t help but myself when I say “And- and you’ve also checked your phone like three times since I sat down. It’s making anxious.” He sighs and pulls his phone off the table “I’m sorry. I’m supposed to hear back on this contract and they’re definitely taking their time getting back to me. I don’t have anywhere else to be- I don’t _want_ to be anywhere else.”

I shake my head at him “Don’t worry about it, Yoongi. I’m not accusing you of anything nor am I mad. I just figured your time is, I don’t know, better spent elsewhere.” He extends a hand over mine “There’s no better time than time spent with you, Jiminie.” I smack at his hand “Who knew Min Yoongi could be such a cheese ball?” He laughs at me “I’ve spent way too much time with Jin recently, not so good on the sense of humor.”

“I don’t know, I happen to think Jin is one of the funniest-” Yoongi’s phone starts to ring and he rushes an apology before answering and jogging outside the busy cafe.

I put my head down on the table for a moment before pushing myself up off my chair, grabbing the empty plate that formerly held the muffin. I walk to the back and throw the dish into the sink and put my apron back on before taking a few deep breaths. The lunch rush is my least favorite time to work; there’s too many people, the big windows in the front make it too bright and people are too talkative. My social battery doesn’t tend to hold its charge long enough to last a full shift, but you know what they say about money and having to do what you have to do to get it.

I round the corner and Amber lights up when she sees me “I’m so glad you’re back. I didn’t want to interrupt your... date?” He voice trails up into a questioning tone but she doesn’t give me time to confirm nor deny “But I’m dying, man. I don’t know how to make half of these drinks so they taste right and there’s people fuc-freakin’ everywhere.” I pat her on the back on the way to the blender.

“You’re doing great for only working here for what? A week? Just call the drinks out and I’ll make them. I’ll teach you how to make some more of our popular drinks after things die down a bit.” She nods and takes a few steps towards the cash register “And um- Yoongi and I aren’t…” She waits and I glance through the windows to see him pacing back and forth still on the phone. “I don’t know, we are what we are.”

-

About an hour later Yoongi comes back into the cafe looking years older than when he walked out. “You okay?” I ask him as he takes a seat at the bar. He nods. I take that as a sign to give him some space so I go on about my duties as The World’s Most Exasperated Barista.

I wipe down the counters, put the mugs away, serve a few stragglers from the lunch rush, and finally he waves me over. “Everything alright?” I ask leaning with my elbows on the counter.

He nods again “Yeah. I um, think so.” He looks up at me and I know there’s something heavy weighing on him but I leave it be. “Can I trouble you for some caffeine? I’m jonesing a bit.” I smile at him. “Coming right up, one heart attack in a cup.”

He laughs at me “Um, Jiminie what are you doing on the fourth? I mean other than going to Jin’s?” I shrug as I scoop some ice into a cup “You asking me out, Min Yoongi?” His face turns a lovely shade of red and I can’t help the smile that comes to my face.

“No! I uh- that’s not what I meant- _but I mean, I’m not saying wouldn’t_ , it’s just- I.. God dammit Jimin.” I crack a laugh at the adorable stuttering boy in front of me. “Calm down, Sugarplum. I was only teasing.” He scrubs his hand across his face and sighs.

“You’re going to be the death of me, Park Jimin.” I sit his drink in front of him with a smile “As I was saying, on Jin’s birthday I have a meeting with Titan and I want you to come with me.”

“Oh. _Oh_.” I reply smartly “Uh, I’m off that day and only have two classes so yeah, I should be able to come.” He smiles into his cup “I’ll pick you up after your last class.” I nod, wiping up the prep area “Oh come on Jimin, ask.”

I throw the rag down and look at him “We aren’t actually going to follow through on that stupid bet are we?” He shrugs “I don’t mind being called a cheater. I’ve been caught many a time cheating at Monopoly. I’m not ashamed.” He scoffs at me “Unlike you I have morals, Park Jimin. I’m not backing down, I’m keeping my word and I’m going to sacrifice my reputation of being professional to do so.”

“Lovely speech.” I mockingly applaud him “I can’t keep meeting people I’m fans of in embarrassing ways, Yoongi. It’s giving me a complex. The first time I met you, you were drunk and I dropped you in Namjin’s apartment.”

He opens his mouth to say something to say something then stops “I don’t quite remember that but I understand where you’re coming from.” He sighs “Just come with me and meet them. They’re really nice guys.”

“Fine.” I huff before walking to the cash register to help a customer.

-

I get to Sorry Mom’s and sigh at the familiarity of the tattoo shop. When Taehyung was just apprentice I spent an entire summer here with him here. Both of us would spent hours working hard on what made us happy; he was bent over he slant table and I would push all the tables to the side and practice routines.

Hui greets me in the front, an indifferent expression on his face. He looks up from where his eyes were trained on the counter and he gives me a 1000 watt smile “Jimin! I haven’t seen you in weeks!”

“I know. I’m sorry, it’s been so crazy lately with school, work and rehearsal. I feel like I haven’t been able to catch up with anyone in years. How’s life? How’s teaching? How are the better halves?” He smiles warmly at me “Don’t worry about it, man. It’s been pretty hectic around here too. I’ve been pretty good, I really can’t complain. I mean all the kids in my class are little angels so they make my life a 100 times easier. Hyuna and Dawn are something else like always, but I love them. They’re both in the back if you’re looking for them.”

He pauses for a moment “Hyuna… I know she’d kill me if she knew I brought this up but I have to. She’s been really struggling with the shin splints. I just- don’t let her convince you that she’s not in pain, because she most definitely is. I know it’s selfish of me but I don’t want her to go through with the performance. Does that make me a terrible person? You’ve both worked so hard, you have worked so-”

I put my hand on his shoulder “That’s why I’m here. Don’t worry about it Bud.” I give him a smile before walking through the tattoo parlor to the more private rooms. “Marco!” I say in a raised voice.

“Polo!” I get in an immediate reply. I duck into a room to find Hyuna, Taehyung, Jungkook, Dawn, and Yugyeom. Here’s the picture: There’s two long black massage tables in a fairly big sized room; Hyuna is sat on the massage table on the far end of the room, Dawn laid down on it with his head in her lap. Jungkook and Taehyung are sat in-between the tables; Jungkook on his phone leaning against the table holding Hyuna and Dawn, Taehyung extremely focused and hunched over the other table with the tattoo gun his hand. Yugyeom is laid across said table; his pants pulled down a bit, a blanket over him to protect his modesty.

“Okay, what the hell did I just walk into?” They all laugh but Jungkook is the one to answer me “Gyeom lost a bet to Jackson so he has to get Squirtle tattooed on his ass.” He says through a series of high pitched giggles.

I try to stifle my laugh for Yugyeom’s sake but do a pretty bad job at it. “ _Oh you poor baby_.” I coo at him “What was the bet?” I ask walking around the table so I can see his face. He looks to the side then back up at me and mumbles “That I couldn’t fit more than 20 marshmallows in my mouth.”

I pat the side of his face “Oh sweet, sweet, boy. You never learn, do you?” He huffs at me but leans into my hand anyway. Hyuna sits up on the table and pats the opening next to her “Come, my dear child.” She says with a smile. I pat Yugyeom’s face once more before going to sit by Hyuna’s side.

“What brings you here to our humble abode?” Tae snorts ‘ _This is my place of work, woman_ ’; she smacks the back of his head; hard enough to get her point across, gentle enough not to effect his linework. I laugh at their antics “I need to talk to you about, um the showcase and stuff…”

She takes my hand and leads me out of the crowded room. We walk further into the building, and ascend some stairs to the small apartment that resides above the shop. At present no one is living in said apartment, because Dawn just moved in with Hui but Hyuna is in the process of moving back in and getting rid of her shitty duplex.

“Sorry there’s shit everywhere, I might be organized but the two idiots I have helping me couldn’t care less about my system.” She sighs, falling onto a plush couch. “Don’t worry about it, when Tae and I moved into the apartment I feel like Tae and Kook messes with how I did things on purpose… It was chaos. There were boxes labeled kitchen that had art supplies in it so we couldn’t find our plates for a month, we ate out of mugs for fucks sake. It took months for me to get everything in its place.”

She laughs, looking out the large window the sofa is pressed up against. The moment passes and a little bit of the light leaves her eyes “I know what you want to talk about, Jiminie.” I try to cut in with nonsense about ‘it being okay’ and ‘talking to her being a bad idea’ but she stops me “It’s alright. It’s really okay babe, take a breath. I knew that I was holding you back and I continued to practice with you and I’m sorry for that.”

“No, we decided to do this together, I’m just- I don’t even know what I am. I don’t want to do it without you, I know that for a fact. Maybe I should tell Hobi-” She presses her manicured fingers to my lips “You’re going to tell him that I’m going to back out- _don’t fight me on this_ \- I’m going to back out and get treated for whatever the fuck is wrong with my legs. You’re going to get new choreography and music and you’re going to kick ass. I’m going to buy you the biggest bouquet of flowers and you’re going to love me the most.”

“I don’t know what to say. I feel like I don’t deserve someone as wonderful and understanding as you, Hun. I really love dancing with you.” I lean into her side and she runs her fingers through my hair. “I love dancing with you too, Min... I promise this isn’t the end- I mean, I’m not going to stop dancing. I just- ever since I broke my leg it just hasn’t been right, I haven’t felt right. I’ve tried to ignore it and it’s time that I actually be an adult and take care of myself.” I nod slightly against her shoulder.

“Give me some time to heal and we’ll blow fuckin’ blow them away with that routine.” I laugh and she squeezes my hand before standing. “Now hug me so you can go on about your day and do whatever it is that you do when I’m not graced with your presence.” She pulls me up and into a tight hug “Attend class, serve coffee, general black magic, you know, the use.” I inform her to which she giggles, squeezing me once before releasing me.

-

“Hi how can I help you?” I smile at the abnormally large man, in a nicely tailored suit standing in front of me. “I’ll have uh, a coffee, two sugars, one cream and one of the orange cupcake things.” I start to type in his order “I’m sorry but we’re out of the orange muffins, but alternatively I can recommend the lemon drop cookies or the coffee crumb cake. I made all of it so I can assure you it’s all delicious.”

The man seems to bristle at this. “God, no. No, just give me the coffee and cranberry muffin.” His tone is harsh but it’s nowhere near the worst treatment I’ve ever gotten so I just nod and punch it in. “That’ll come to six o’ seven.” I say giving my best Customer Service Smile.

“Six fucking dollars for coffee and a muffin. You’ve gotta’ be kidding.” He pays for what he bought jerking around like a toddler throwing a tantrum, throwing around profanities the entire time.

I make it incredibly clear that he needs to wait at the other end of the bar while I get his coffee and heat his muffin. It’s late, probably around 10:30 so we’re the only two in here. Yoongi is usually hanging out, and by usually I mean every single night unless stated otherwise so the fact that he isn’t here not only makes me feel lonely but also puts me on edge. I haven’t seen him since he stopped in to have lunch with me a couple days ago, so even if everything is fine and he got caught up in a project or something it’ll be nice to see him.

I take a calming breath and walk to hand the man his food. He’s on his phone and doesn’t pay any attention to me when I get to the edge of the bar. “Um, excuse me sir. Your foods ready.” He seems pissed even at that but I lay it on the counter and retreat to the prep area to start wiping everything down.

He takes his food and I’m chanting ‘take your food and leave, take your food and leave, take your food and leave’ over and over because we close in 30 minutes and I want to drop in on Yoongi to make sure he’s okay as soon as possible. Lady Luck doesn’t seem to be on my side though because the man walks to the table in the middle of the dining room and sits.

I sigh, continuing on with my duties. “Excuse me!” I come out from the back room, a bin full of cups in my arms “Excuse me!” The large man is at the counter again, phone still to his ear, his face redder than the devils ass “Sorry, I didn’t hear you I was just in the back getting-” He holds a hand out “I couldn’t honestly care less about anything that you were about to say. I need you to hear me and understand the words that are coming out my mouth. Nod if you understand.”

A flash of anger and embarrassment burn through me but I bite the side of my cheek and give a small nod. “This- I don’t even know if you can call this coffee, but it’s bad. Warm fucking piss.” The mans hostility takes me off guard but I try to take it in stride. “I um, I can make it again for you, if that’s what you want.” He rolls his eyes “Of course that’s what I want.” He turns back to walk to his table but not before I hear him murmur “ _dumbass_ ”.

My hands shake as I remake his coffee, it’s a simple order so it’s not something you can really screw up. I really hope whatever I did ‘wrong’ the first time I fixed this time.

I walk the coffee directly to him this time, I set it in front of him and basically turn tail and run. I’m pouring out the excess coffee when I feel the presence of someone behind me. I turn around and the man is again, at the bar looking somehow, even more upset.

“You know, my order isn’t very hard. Coffee. Two sugars. One cream. I’m not asking for much and yet you find a way to fuck it up.” I immediately feel my cheeks heat up and my eyes water. I refuse to give the man the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

“If it’s um, still not to your satisfaction sir, I can refund you.” The man slams his cup down on the counter “I don’t want my fucking money back, I want some decent fucking coffee!” I know my coffee is good because _The Coffee Connoisseur_ himself, Min Yoongi, happens to love my coffee.

“I uh, I’m not sure how I can help with that-” The man laughs at the tremors in my voice. “God, there’s no wonder why you’re the one wearing the apron in this equation.” He digs in his pocket for his wallet “I might not have gotten the coffee I wanted but-” He breathes a laugh “Man, it’s nice to be reminded sometimes.”

He must read the confusion on my face because he continues “It’s nice to be reminded that there’s people like you and there’s people like me.” He pulls a 50 out of his wallet and throws it so it hits my chest and falls to the counter “It’s nice to be reminded of the distance.”

He looks down at the forgotten coffee cup and pushes it over so it spills all over the counter and onto my shoes. He gives a smug smile and finally walks out the door.

-

It’s 11:30 before I’m finally locking up the cafe and on the road to Yoongi’s. The run in with the tall man really drained me but I need to check in on him and a text just isn’t adequate.

I get to his place and don’t even bother knocking, if he’s in his studio there’s no way he’d ever hear me. I take the key he gave me just last week and unlock the door. When he gave me said key, it was a cold and rainy Wednesday. I got off work early and came over for our scheduled movie night but alas, Min Yoongi is a workaholic with an affinity for losing things so it took twenty minutes of me spamming his phone before he noticed it wasn’t beside him on his desk as it should be; but on Jungkook’s chair where said adult child left it after draining the battery playing Candy Crush. Moral of the story, I got a key to Min Yoongi’s apartment because I stood outside in wet shoes and coat for twenty minutes and developed a sniffle.

“Yoongi?” I ask the seemingly empty residence. I walk down the hallway into the living room with no luck I continue further into the apartment. I walk past Jungkook’s old room, a nostalgic smile graces my lips. I miss him I realize, I make a note to call him later.

I get to the ‘ _Genius Lab_ ’ and ring the absurd buzzer he has against the wall but realize that all the lights are off inside, meaning he’s probably not in there. I sigh and walk to the end of the hall and softly knock on his bedroom door.

There’s shuffling noises “Joon?” a weak voice meets me, so I peak my head in the door “No Yoon, it’s Jimin.” All the lights are off in his room, the only luminescence is coming from the small crack in the top of the curtains from the street lights outside and fairy lights in the far corner that fill a vase.

“Jiminie?” He asks raising his head only slightly. I walk to his side of the bed and crouch down so we’re eye to eye. “I came to check on you. When you didn’t show up tonight at the cafe I was worried.” His brows furrow “I’m sorry Jimin. I didn’t mean to-” He sighs.

I put my hand on his “There’s nothing to apologize for, silly.” He lays his head back down in his pillow with a breath that’s more like a sigh. I take off my outer coat and lay it over the end of the bed before turning back to him.

“How was work?” He asks me and I feel my face turn into an involuntary grimace. He looks concerned “What happened?” I groan as I stand and climb over him, into his bed. He slowly turns over to face me.

“It was fine for the most part, you know. It’s a Tuesday so it wasn’t especially busy or anything…” Yoongi gives a nod against his pillow “It’s just this guy came in a little bit before closing. He was really pushy and rude and it got under my skin.”

I run a hand down my face “If you’re wondering that’s why I look like this,” I motion towards my puffy red eyes “he said some especially mean things before he left. I managed to keep it together until he left then it was fuckin’ Niagara Falls.” Yoongi shifts next to me “He made you cry?” I nod.

He’s quiet for a moment “What'd he say?” I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. It’s not that I don’t trust Yoongi enough to tell him this, it’s more if I say it out loud it makes it true.

“I don’t know… He wasn’t happy with his coffee so I remade it for him and surprise he didn’t like it the second time either…” I pause and Yoongi waits for me to continue “He said that there’s no wonder I’m the one with the apron and that it’s nice to b-be reminded that there’s people like that me and p-people like him.”

I tried really hard not to show any emotion but in the end my cheeks are hot and my eyes are misty. Yoongi shifts so his arm is under the pillow and lets out a huff of breath. He lifts the blanket slightly and I’m quick to oblige getting under it. “C’mere.” He says softly, I scoot closer until my face is hidden in the shoulder his hoodie.

It’s quiet for a long time and I hear Yoongi’s breathing even out so I figure he’s sleeping. “I’m sorry.” I hear in a whisper that I’m not even sure is there. “I’m not good at comforting people on the best day and today is definitely isn’t my best… I hate that someone said those awful things to you and I wasn’t there for you- not that you need rescuing or anything but…”

I feel him sigh into my hair “I know how much it sucks to be talked down to because of the job you have. Especially when you don’t have a choice, when you’re just trying to get through this stage where you feel like everything is tied up with everything else. We work the jobs we do to get the things we want out of life and don’t let anyone, especially a miserable bag of dicks like him make you feel bad for it.” I give a watery laugh and I pull back to look at his face.

He’s looking at me with a soft smile that does indeed reach his eyes but those eyes are squinted and have bags so big under them they might as well be black eyes. I pull back further to really look at him and take in the full situation. When I think about everything that has happened since I walked into the apartment all of the pieces snap into place. Not showing up at the cafe, the shut down studio, him expecting Namjoon, the dimmed lights, “ _I’m not good at comforting people on the best day and today definitely isn’t my best_ ”...

“Oh my god you have a migraine.” He gives me a weird look and nods his head. “Um. Yeah... I usually get one after I drink a lot but pair that with all the meals I’ve skipped recently to focus on that deal I told you about, it all kinda came to a head.” I look at him with wide eyes “I came to your house and made you comfort me. I made you comfort me and it’s not even a big deal, not when you’re in pain. Oh my god, I’m the fucking worst.”

I uncover myself and he sighs “Jimin.” I scoot down to the end of the bed and grab my coat “I’ll call Namjoon and see how long he’ll be... I’ll wait on him to get here, um… Text if you need anything.” I push away from the bed and I hear Yoongi shift behind me.

I almost make it out of the room before “Jimin, wait!” He says in a raised voice, the look on his face makes me think he’s regretting it. “I uh- I need something.” He says in one that’s a lot softer. I give a nod and he looks down at his hands “I don’t know, it’s going to sound stupid… And my explanation is just going to make it sound worse but I’m not really- I’m not good with the words thing which doesn’t make sense because that’s my bread and butter… Even so, I just want to tell you, to let you know, that I felt better as soon as you got here.”

He rubs a hand down his face “You make me feel better, now, but also like everytime I see you. I mean obviously I’m still in pain, that doesn’t just go away… I mean I still feel like someone is carving my brain out with a rusted spoon… but it’s okay because I’m with you.” My heated cheeks are a match for his, he scratches the back of his neck glancing up at me.

He laughs softly “I told you, too much time spent with Jin has corrupted me. I’ll never be the same.” I take a few steps back towards the bed and Yoongi pats the bed so I just surrender to going all the way back. “As oddly sweet as that is _Sugarplum_ , you should rest. Put down the baggage under your eyes. Or you know, kick the crazy crying man out of your apartment.” He laughs quietly at that, watching me as I plop down in front of him.

“Really Jimin, don’t worry about it too much. It doesn’t hurt that bad. I’ve iced my head, drank some chamomile tea, Kook lit my favorite candle and Tae all but force fed me chocolate covered espresso beans before they left earlier, and Joon has my meds _and_ is bringing me Thai in less than hour.” He pats my leg “This isn’t anything new for us. I’ve had headaches, migraines, whatever the fuck you want to call them for six years. There’s not a lot that riles me up about the subject so don’t worry about offending me. Just don’t tell me how to fix myself, don’t tell me your crackpot medical practices and don’t belittle my illness and you won’t ever have to feel bad.”

I give a slight nod and Yoongi laughs at me “C’mon let’s lay back down until Joon gets here with the food.” I can’t help the smile that comes to my face “Is he getting mango and coconut rice?” Yoongi makes a cooing noise while holding the blanket open for me “I don’t know but I can ask him to add it to the list.”

I lay back on Yoongi’s pillows and realize there’s only three for the entire king size bed. “You need more pillows.” I mumble, my face still pressed into the fabric. “What’s that?” He asks putting his phone back on the nightstand. I turn my face further into the cushion “I was just saying that you have this massive bed and you have three pillows. I have a queen and I have like eleven minimum.” He scoffs “ _Eleven? Why the fuck do you need eleven pillows?_ ”

I peek up at him and smile “I don’t know, it’s nice to be surrounded with you sleep. Feel secure, I guess. Tae’s the same way. He likes to feel like he’s holding someone… I like to feel held.” My eyelids are starting to droop “Tae and I can take the best fucking naps. Plus, I mean, pillows are pretty. Your bed is awkward and off-putting. _Not like you at all._ ”

He laughs in that breathy way he does, if you didn’t pay attention you could miss it. I snuggle further down in the bedding and I meet Yoongi’s chest. I start to pull away before I feel Yoongi’s arm drape over my torso. I make a pleased hum and feel myself falling faster and faster toward unconsciousness.

“You can help me buy some pillows soon, can’t have my bed scaring you off.” Is the last thing I remember before falling asleep is smiling into his hoodie.

-

“Jimin, get your cute ass in here! I made pancakes!” I jolt awake and there’s a moment of confusion before I become aware of my surroundings. I’m in Yoongi’s bed, wrapped up in two blankets, a sliver of light peeking through the top of the thick curtains.

I scramble to find my phone and my stomach drops; it’s a quarter past nine and I was supposed to be in class at 8:45. “Sweet mother of Mary fuck!” I look for my jacket for a moment but when I don’t see it, I jump out of the bed and run through the hall and collide with a very happy looking Hobi. “Did you just say ‘ _Sweet mother of Mary fuck’_?” I make a vague affirmative hum and Hobi snorts “Fair enough. Yoongi and I made pancakes! I know your thing about waffles vs pancakes but my pancakes are the best so get over it and eat.” I give a short nod but make a beeline for the shoe rack.

Hobi laughs loud and bright and I appreciate moments like that but it’s the end of the year and I can’t afford to miss school when finals are upon us. Yoongi walks out of the kitchen and into the livingroom “What’s up, Minie?” I shake my head, struggling to put my shoes on.

“Nothing, I’m just hella fucking late to class.” I finally slip my shoes into place and pat myself down to make sure I have everything. I look at the couch for my jacket but I don’t see it anywhere so I just decide I’m going to go without one today.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I should have gotten you up sooner.” I shake my head. “Don’t worry about it, I should have set an alarm.” I look between the two for a moment before I look back at my phone. It’s now 9:25, if I rush I should be able to catch the last half hour of the class. “Anyway, I gotta go.”

I race out of the apartment before I can get yelled at about not having a coat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact:  
> The chocolate orange story is inspired by a tweet I saw like six months ago and still to this day cracks me up.


	16. The One With The Drunken Cat

[](https://ibb.co/rbFGdKX)

-

I say goodbye to the sweet girl I sit next to in my child psychology class and book it to Yoongi’s car. As soon as I’m in the car he frowns at me. “Ah, it’s so nice we can meet like this.” He rolls his eyes and pulls a jacket out of his back seat. “You’re going to get sick, you idiot. I know you were late this morning, but you couldn’t stop for five seconds to look for your coat when it’s literally freezing outside?”

I sigh, slipping my arms through the sleeves of the oversized coat “I get it _Dad_ , I’ll make sure to look like the Michelin Man before stepping a foot outside. Cross my heart.” I draw an ‘x’ over where my heart is with my finger. “Satisfied?” He makes a displeased noise “ _Just drink your fuckin’ coffee_.”

-

We pull up at a hole in the wall looking restaurant and I can see Yoongi’s amusement at my confusion. “Don’t look so confused Min, I told you this wasn’t a big deal. Taeyong and Ten are really nice guys. C’mon.” He nods his head towards the door.

I take a breath and give him a nod in return. I jog around the car and fall in step beside him “What is this place?” I take in the really cute looking brownstone; Christmas lights hanging above a small patio in front of the entrance, a chalkboard with beautifully written specials on it, and I don’t realize Yoongi has stopped to open the door until I walk into him.

“It’s a place Hobi, Joon and I found a couple years back. It… didn’t look like this when we first started coming here. You like it?” He asks with a small smile. I nod. We continue through to the cashier and order. I get a chai tea latte and croissant and Yoongi gets yet another cup of coffee and a cruller. I look behind us and the name of the place, _Latte Luna_ , is scrawled in beautiful font across the entire wall. My eyes scan the rest of the room and I’ve decided that this place might be the cutest place in all of Seoul.

“Jimin are you listening to me?” My eyes snap to Yoongi’s and I give a jerky shake of my head. He sighs with a roll of his eyes. “Okay, well, focus up. You with me, Park?” I gulp and nod and pretend _like that’s not attractive at all_.

“As I was saying, they’re usually like 15 minutes late so let’s grab a table and you can tell me how finals are going.” I groan as he guides me to a secluded table at the back of the cafe. “They’re going good. Fine. They’re _fine_.” He snorts at me “You’re doing that thing Kook does, where when something is decidedly not fine he says it is like a thousand times.”

I open my mouth to say otherwise but can’t so I respond with “Shut up.” He chuckles at me as we take our seats. “Really though, tell me how you’re doing.” Something about Yoongi's want to know about my wellbeing has me feeling… warm. We’ve grown close the past couple months and I’m just… glad.

I groan leaning my head on his shoulder “It’s really okay. I mean it’s incredibly stressful and I’m definitely not dancing, sleeping or doing things that make me feel, you know, human…” I realize how bad that sounds and wave my hands in front of me as if that’d erase what I just said “That sounds a lot worse than it actually is, it’s just been a rough couple weeks so I haven’t really felt like Park Jimin. I feel more like a the ghost of Park Jimin. I look like me and I talk like me, I definitely fucking work like me... but I’m not all there.”

I lean my head on my hands, realizing how sad that sounds and Yoongi pats my shoulder “There it is.” I sigh. “Fuck... I mean thank you, I guess, for making me realize how pathetic my life is… but there’s nothing I can do about it. I have to work doubles so I can go to school, and in turn I don’t have the time to dance because of that. I can’t sleep because I have to study, or I’d be throwing my future and all the money I worked for away.”

I take a drink of my tea “Everything will go back to normal in another week.” Yoongi clicks his tongue “Jimin I understand your situation and if you ever need any mon—“ I clumsily put my cup on the table in front of me and turn to him “No, no none of that. I mean this 100% Sugar, you're incredibly kind for offering and I appreciate you fully for just the offer, but this is something I can balance. I’ve been a lot worse off.”

“ _How comforting_.” Yoongi deadpans before glancing behind me. “Anyway, are you ready for the trip this weekend?” I nod vaguely and he narrows his eyes at me “You haven’t even started packing, have you?” Hit the nail on the head. “I resent the accusation Min Yoongi.” I take a drink of my tea “But I need you to take me home after this because I forgot to pack and I don’t want Jin to yell at me.” He laughs shaking his head.

“I figured as such.” I still feel the tiniest bit offended even though he’s exactly right “Just remind Taehyung and Jungkook to make sure they have everything please. They’re both too much of procrastinators and forgetful to be left to themselves.” I nod. “You got it, dude.” He scoffs a laugh “Okay, Stephanie Tanner. Thank you.”

He glances behind me and then looks me straight in the eye “I don’t want you to freak out but they’re here. A few things, Ten is _a lot_  and will probably want to steal you. It’s normal. Taeyong is quiet until you get to know him so don’t be offended by it.” My stomach twists and I feel every muscle in my body tense. He looks from eye to eye gauging my reaction “Are you freaking out? I feel like you’re freaking out.”

“No big.” I say and Yoongi chuckles at me before standing to flag them down.

-

{  _Yoongi_  }

Spending time with Jimin is one of my favorite pastimes but I’ve decided that I could waste my whole life being around a blushy Jimin and I don’t know what to do with an emotion that strong.

I look away from the red boy at my side to the two men ordering at the counter. Ten says something to Taeyong and then all but runs his way towards our table.

“Yoongi!” He exclaims pulling me into a giant hug “I haven’t seen you in actual years. There’s so much to catch up on. So what have you been up to for the past two years?” I chuckle at the bubbly boy clinging to my front.

“We can catch up in a bit, first I want you to meet someone. Ten this is Jimin and uh, vise versa.” Ten lets go of me and moves to Jimin in a flash “And who is this adorable creature?” He asks and I roll my eyes “I just said his name is Jimin. He dances at Hobi’s studio.”

He makes an ‘ah’ noise and smiles at Jimin. “It’s nice to meet you Jimin, I am Ten. That is Taeyong.” I shake my head because even if Jimin didn’t know who he was, I literally just said that. “Tell me everything about yourself, I want to know it all.” Ten adds pulling Jimin into a chair and the poor boy turns 10 shades redder.

Taeyong walks up a second later shaking his head “Ten don’t harass Yoongi’s friend.” He says with an in an exasperated sigh. Ten pouts “I’m not _harassing_  him Ty. I’m socializing with my new friend, Park Jimin.”

“Leave the poor kid alone, we’re here for business reasons not for you to try and steal Yoongi’s friends. This is the same thing you did when he introduced us to Jungkook.” Ten looks positively scandalized “For your information, Jungkook and I are the best of friends. It’s not my fault Yoongi keeps good company and you’re an antisocial ass.”

Taeyong sighs again as he sinks into the chair beside me. He gives Ten a dirty look as he takes a drink of his coffee. “He’s had a /lot/ of coffee today, like a lot. That’s why he’s _like that_. By the time I got up this morning he had already had three cups.” I laugh at his exasperation. “It’s good, man.” I reassure him “I don’t think anything will be as bad as the time he ambushed us and forced us to watch _all_  the Lord of The Rings movies.”

“No definitely not. _Fuckin’ Tolkien movies_.” We laugh at the shared memory but realize Ten is glaring daggers at us.

I look to Jimin and he looks concerned that they’re actually angry with each other so I step in to ease his worries “Jimin excuse them, they actually are best friends and do love each other, they just don’t know how to communicate without it sounding like they’re breaking up.” Ten smacks my arm but Jimin smiles so it’s worth it.

“Okay how about this? We eat our food, catch up a bit, then we talk business. Deal?” Taeyong asks trying to placate Ten.

-

“-And after the first of the year we’re doing special stages in both of our home cities for our 10 year anniversary. I already saved you a ticket to both, like always, and now that you have Jimin you guys can come together. Other than that though, I think that’s everything. You’re up to date with the Titan household.” I nod along as Ten recounts everything that has happened and will happen, not only to Titan as a unit but to himself _and Taeyong_  for the past two years. I must admit my attention has drifted in and out as he talked, which I feel bad about now, but the boy talked for 45 minutes straight.

I look between both Ten and Jimin across the booth from me and smile at the light blush across Jimin’s cheeks. “Yoongi, are you listening?” Taeyong asks and I startle a bit. “Ah, I’m sorry. Must’ve zoned out or something. What’d you say?”

Taeyong chuckles “I was just asking what you asked us here for. I know we were going to meet to go over some plans but that usually happens when we’re scheduled to record so what’s the deal?” The question seems to catch the attention of Ten, as he has stopped talking to Jimin to pay attention to my answer.

“Ah, well.. It’s not a conspiracy or anything. I know this is a little out of the ordinary but… I kind of— I just kind-of-need-a-favor.” Both members of Titan seem to be taken aback while Jimin tries not to choke on his tea. Taeyong and Ten remain silent while Jimin tries, /and fails/, to stifle his laughter behind some coughing.

I sigh, scratching the back of my head “Okay, quit acting like I just told you the secrets of the universe. It’s not _that_  surprising that I’m asking for a favor… I’ve asked for your help before.” That seems to break the ice that formed over them.

“Yeah fucking right. Yoongi, I’ve known you for over 10 years and in that time I must have asked for _hundreds_  of favors; I mean remember that one year I moved _four_  different times? In all that time you haven’t asked me for more than like ‘ _Hey pass me that pen_ ’ or ‘ _Move your head I can’t see the the tv, brat_ ’ and the same goes for Ty.” Ten says with a teasing lilt in his voice that makes me want to punch him.

Instead I just sigh because I honestly can’t say he’s wrong. He leans his chin on his hand and bats his lashes at me “So… Whatcha need Yongo?” Fortunately for me Taeyong steps in to end my suffering.

“Lee, I think you forget all the hoops Yoongi just jumped through for us. He just signed a contract with our company just to produce our album. I’d be nicer if I were you. If he wants your left kidney, _we’re giving him your left kidney_.” Tae says with only a bit of humor in his voice.

I roll my eyes at the both of them “For the love of God, why do I put up with you two?” They both answer my rhetorical question at the same time, Ten with ‘ _because you love us_.’ and Taeyong with ‘ _the money, man_ ’. Jimin and I both laugh at the extreme opposite answers.

I groan and decide to just get it over with. I make eye contact with Jimin as Ten and Taeyong bicker about whether we’re friends / ‘friendly work acquaintances’ and he gives me a encouraging nod. “Okay, idiots listen.” They both look mildly scandalized but they pay attention nevertheless. “You know Jungkook, right?” To that I’m met with nods “And you know Taehyung, his best friend? You’ve met him a couple times I think.” I’m met with nods again, but they’re hesitant this time.

I get to this point and look to Jimin for support, to which he provides in the form of a soft smile. “Okay, well it was just Jimin’s birthday and there’s this certain type of alcohol that tastes /nothing/ like booze and it’s Jimin’s favorite,” Titan’s attention turns to a pink cheeked Jimin for a moment before coming back to me.

“Hoseok, being the spawn of Satan that he is, brought two huge bottles to Jimin’s party. A lot of drinking and board games later, bets were made and let’s just say Jimin and I lost.” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Jimin is going to be in Hobi’s winter showcase but he has to change his entire routine because his partner had to drop out due to medical problems. He didn’t really like the choreography to begin with so it’s not much of a loss.”

I stop talking for a moment and Ten gets impatient “That’s… all fine and good but what does that have to do with us?” I look at the table contemplating for a moment “Well you see, Jimin here,” I see him stiffen at the mention of his name “Is a pretty big fan of… well you guys— of Titan.” Ten turns to him and says ‘ _oh you are, are you_?’ arching a manicured eyebrow.

“Yes, yes, he is. Your song, the last one I produced for you that is, is one of Jimin’s favorite songs. In our drunken stupor we agreed that if we lost a game of Cranium against Jungkook and Taehyung that we would have to do a cover of Baby Don’t Stop and Jimin would choreograph a dance to it for the showcase.” Ten breaks out into a smile that would make the Cheshire Cat jealous and Taeyong makes a contemplative noise.

“First let me start off by saying; thank you for loving our music and supporting us, I already love you.” Ten says to Jimin “Second; Yoongi, this is a man of many talents.” He throws a thumb over his shoulder toward Jimin “He can sing, he can dance, he’s freakin’ adorable. I also know thanks to my newly found knowledge of my best friend here, he’s…” He glances at Jimin who is strongly shaking his head. Ten smiles like he’s satan himself, and whispers “Single. So you need to date this man before he realizes you’re just a bunch of cats in a trench coat.”

I choke out a cough “Ten what- What the hell does that have to do with anything?” He smiles glancing at Jimin’s beet red face from the corner of his eye “Nothing. Nothing, I just thought someone should tell you to pull your head out of your ass.” I’m at a loss for words but I have about a million questions. Why is Ten so interested? Is _he_  interested in Jimin? Or can he just immediately see how great Jimin is? And why does the idea of Ten being interested in Jimin leave such a sour taste in my mouth?

“Third;” Ten continues “Of fucking course you can use the song, Yoongi. Without you that song wouldn’t have been half of what it is, and I’m honestly super excited to hear you cover it.” I look to my left “How ‘bout it, Tae?” He smiles at me “Yeah, I don’t mind if you guys use it.” He says simply. I groan, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands because I know this means I actually have to follow through.

“So my dear Jimin, tell me all about this dance you’re going to choreograph.” Ten says turning almost sideways in the booth to give him his full attention. “I honestly don’t know. It’s not that I can’t come up with choreography, because I can and have many times, but it tends to take me a long time and I’m generally not 100% happy with it when I’m finished. Which is exactly what I want to avoid if at all possible because I don’t have a lot of time until the showcase so I can’t take forever and I don’t have a lot of time to dance _period_  so I don’t want to be dissatisfied when it’s over.” He takes a deep breath and sighs.

Ten looks at him for a minute then says “Then let me dance with you. I haven’t danced like, danced just for myself in forever.” Jimin immediately starts rejecting the idea, which to Ten’s credit, he hears him out, but then he counters every single point Jimin made with a solution.

Well all the problems but one, “Ten, I hear you, but I couldn’t in good conscience agree to partnering up when I know I won’t have the time to devote to the you— to the routine that it deserves. Honestly if I didn’t get my shit together before the next group rehearsal, I was just going to get Hobi to take me off the docket.” Woah, woah wait. _Wait_. Jimin didn’t mention any of this to me and I’ve asked him about the showcase countless times. Why didn’t he tell me about this? _Does he feel like he can’t tell me things like this_?

Ten leans heavily into his hand “So what can we do to fix that?” Jimin sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “There’s nothing we can do. There’s nothing I can even do. I have to work to stay in class and I don’t-- I’m going to school to be a teacher. I only dance for fun.” I scoff quietly because as much as I’ve heard Jimin proclaim that his soul only breathes when he’s dancing it’s a bold statement for him to say it’s ‘ _just for fun_ ’.

Ten pouts a little at that, “I’m sorry Jimin, for presuming to know about your personal life but if you can find _any_  way, I’d love to work with you.” Jimin thanks him quickly and I try to catch his eye several times but he avoids it continually for the rest of our time with Titan.

-

{  _Jimin_  }

Yoongi falls into step beside me after we leave the cafe. He bumps my elbow with his upper arm and I smile, _faintly_. He breathes a sigh when I still don’t look at him. I’m not a complete idiot, I know that he’s been trying to get my attention since I let it slip that I might be backing out of the showcase. He’s not exactly slick about it so he made it pretty obvious that it upset him that I didn’t talk to him about it before the meeting… And it’s not even like I was keeping it from him, I was just feeling out my options but when he offered to give me money I knew I absolutely couldn’t tell him.

It’s not like I know Yoongi’s story, _other than what I know from my AgustD fanboy days_ , so I’m trying not to make any assumptions but if he knew what it was like to inform your best friend that ‘ _yes, for the second month I won’t have a phone because I need to pay half of the rent_ ’ he would understand why I can’t talk about something like this so easily. I can almost say decidedly that he’s never sat through Jin’s long ‘ _I understand your living situation right now Jimin, but not eating is not the way to afford time at the studio. Let Joon and I pay for the next month so you can catch up_.’ speech because if he knew what it felt like— he’d know that my pride isn’t the problem.

It’s the fact that my friends are worrying about me, are taking money out of their pockets to support a hobby of mine. It’d be different if I were Tae and I was broke because I need art supplies or something because that’s what he’s doing with his life and he’s damn good at it. I’m not going to be a dancer, that’s not the career path I’m on, it was never a choice for me. I’m going to be a teacher and I’m okay with that. I can live with it. But I can’t burden my friends with it.

“Jimin, you’re passing the car.” Yoongi snaps me out of my train of thought and I blush. “Oops.” I say, finally looking at him. He smiles a smile that I know isn’t genuine before getting in the car. I sigh. _I’m going to have to deal with this_. I barely close the car door before he asks somewhat gruffly “How long have you liked Titan?” I open my mouth and close it again taking a moment to look at him. Oh. _Oh. He’s not looking at me now_. He puts a hand on my head rest to reverse “I don’t know, a long time. It’s kind of funny, one of the first showcases I did with Hobi I danced to Ten’s Dream In A Dream.” He makes a noise between a scoff and a grunt and I can’t help but roll my eyes at him. “From the way Tae’s talked and hell the way you’ve talked, I figured it’d a be a dream come true to dance with him. I knew your financial standing wasn’t in the best place, I didn’t however know it’s bad enough you’re thinking of dropping out of the showcase all together. I mean, you don’t have to tell me stuff, but as I said _earlier_ , if you’d let me I’d love to help you out.” I don’t say anything for a beat, not really sure what to say, and he continues “I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I usually give my friends a wide berth on this kind of thing, you know feelings and the like, I just thought we—” He sighs and drums his thumbs on the steering wheel “You can stop talking to me today, Jimin, and I’d still help you as much as I could within the confines of that limited contact. I don’t believe in much; but I believe that when you have a dream that’s attainable you have a responsibility to chase it— _and damn it Jimin I’ve seen you dance I know you could do it for a living_.”

There’s a heavy silence that falls over us as we slow to a stop at a stoplight “Sometimes dreams are just dreams, Yoongi. I’m a grown man who has responsibilities and expectations that I have to live up to… Expectations that I’m not living up to presently so that’s why I have to work harder, that’s why I have to drop this— drop dancing, if that's what I need to do. I know I should be further in life. I shouldn’t have been naive enough to pursue dancing professionally when I got out of high school, but I attribute that to said naiviaty and well off, over supportive grandparents. I understand and respect your viewpoint, but I feel it’s biased due to where you’re standing.” I can tell he is looking at me but I keep my vision trained out the windshield “I wasn’t keeping anything from you, if that’s what you’re thinking. We just met each other a couple months ago and I’m sorry if this sounds rude or cruel but I’m just not comfortable talking about this with you. I’m not comfortable taking money from you. We’re friends Yoongi,  _just friends_. You don’t have to be my bank nor my knight in shining armor. So just on this particular topic, I’d prefer the standard Min Yoongi berth.”

The light changes, he doesn’t say anything and I take that as neither a loss nor a win.

-

The way Yoongi and I leave things is… odd to say the least. He doesn’t seem mad persay, which he doesn’t have any right to be anyway, but I’m just hoping that things aren’t weird at Jin’s dinner and the trip there after. He might kill us if we’re awkward around each other after finally getting the group back together after the Taekook /thing/.

I open the front door to the apartment and I hear copious amounts of yelling and smell something along the line of burnt cookies. “Taehyung?” I call out up the stairs, toeing off my shoes. _I’m ignored_.

I jog up the stairs to see absolute chaos in our small living space. Taehyung and Jungkook are about a foot in front of the tv on the floor pushing each other, trying to mess each other up, as they play Mario Kart. “I see that blue shell, Jungkook. I swear on my life if you use it I’ll have Hobi exile you.” They round the last turn towards the finish line and Jungkook laughs loudly and so hard he almost falls over. “I’ll face my exile with dignity.” Jungkook pushes the button on the controller with such certainty that it almost makes me wince. _Poor Yoshi never had a chance._

Taehyung squeals as he’s blasted with the blue shell and Jungkook passes him to take first place. I chuckle at the all too familiar sight, I have to say I have missed it in the past month. It was nice not to come home after working 12 hours to “ _Fuck you and whatever the fuck Yoshi is. Is he a dinosaur? Is a frog? I’ll tell you what he is, Taehyung, he’s an abomination and I refuse to play another round with that little green fuck_ ” but I’m relieved that they’re like this again that I can deal with a loud apartment.

I walk into the kitchen to find out what is producing the burnt smell is indeed cookies that are still in the oven. I’m quick to pull them out and turn on the over head fan. I walk into the living room where a similar conversation to the ‘ _Yoshi abomination_ ’ conversation is in happening. Though this time it’s Taehyung bad talking Shy Guy.

“What’s with the mask? It’s creepy! He might as well be a death eater. This is a fuckin kids game, Jungkook.” Jungkook crosses his arms “First of all Harry Potter is for kids too so that argument is invalid and what’s wrong with masks? Iron Man wears a mask. You have a problem with Iron Man?” Jungkook challenges “Maybe I fuckin’ do.” Tae quips back “Tae, I’m not afraid to throw hands!” Jungkook says in a voice I know that’s supposed to be threatening, _but 100% isn’t_. Tae is about to start on a spiel that I know is going to be long winded so I cut in.

“Hey!” They turn and look at me like I’m some sort of apparition. “When the fuck did you get here?” Jungkook asks laying his upper body across Taehyung’s crossed legs to look at me closer. They seem to be right back to where they were, so comfortable around each other and it warms my heart. It’s stark in contrast to the night they threw me the party, where it was like they were afraid to touch each other at all. _I wonder if something happened_. “Watch your tone brat, it’s my apartment. To answer your question, I just got back. And I’m fine with dealing with all of this,” I motion to the tv and to them “But I’m not fine with you guys trying to burn the apartment down. All my stuff is here. I like my stuff.”

Their eyes go wide like they’re just now smelling the bitterness of the burnt cookies in the air. Tae hits the back of Jungkook’s shoulder, who is still laid out in his lap “You were supposed to remind me to take those out of the oven.” Jungkook pinches his thigh “You were the one who insisted on the last round.”

I sigh and start down the hallway towards my room “Hey, Min! How did the Titan thing go?” Tae yells after me. I pause just before reaching my door “It went fine. We’re going to record the song. I hate you both. I’m going to take a shower and finish packing before we head to Jin’s, try not burn down the apartment.” I glance back at the two of them “Make sure you have all of your stuff together. I don’t want any of you trying to steal my shampoo because you didn’t double check your bag.” I throw over my shoulder before making into my room.

There’s a few protests about me ‘ _being vague_ ’ from the two younger boys but I ignore them. I’m eager to scrub the film of a long day of classes off and I’ll let them grill me for details later.

It’s only a few minutes after I get out of my unexpectedly long shower that my phone buzzes from its place on my bed. I walk over the few steps from my adjoined bathroom to the bed and collapse into it, grabbing my phone on the way down.

[](https://ibb.co/LCcmfDJ)

After several more minutes of me assuring him that ‘ _no I’m not fun of making you, Yoongi. I mean honestly your mind—_ ’ to which he replies ‘ _I’m not and idiot Jimin. I may be dumb enough to get a drunk cat tattooed on my ankle but I’m smart enough to know you’re an asshole_ ’. Though after several minutes of pestering I eventually get what I want in form of a snap.

[](https://ibb.co/n3QntSp)

Honestly it’s a cute tattoo, but he’s right Tae is going to kill him. It’s definitely not something I ever thought he would get but it’s oddly fitting. I decide that though Yoongi has become my dear friend in the past weeks, Tae is my soulmate so I screenshot it and immediately type out a simple ‘ _look at Yoon’s new ink_ ’ in our family group chat.

It explodes with all caps messages and I hear Tae yelling something along the lines of ‘ _that lying motherfucker_ ’ and Kook laughing and I think the small betrayal of Yoongi is worth it.

I was worried that because Yoongi and I left on such a weird note after our disagreement in the car that it might take us some time, days even, to get back to normal but I’m glad only a mere 3 hours after the tiff we’ve seemed to have reconciled. I know that Yoongi and I have become close friends, seeing each other almost every night but I didn’t think that he would have such a reaction to me making decisions about my finances.

It still rubs me the wrong way, but I’m glad the topic was dropped and we’re able to move passed it.

-

{  _Yoongi_  }

“I thought we were, I don’t know, kind of— _hanging out_! Or at least doing what the kids call, ‘ _talking_ ’! I thought we liked each other… And then he says all these things and, and— he literally said the words ‘ _we’re friends, just friends_ ’, Joon!” I slump into the chair in the corner of his studio. He looks at me laughing then to the floor shaking his head.

“Don’t laugh at me right now! Why did I even come to you, dear God.” I say exasperated. He doesn’t stop laughing but offers “I’m sorry, Yoongi. I don’t mean to laugh at your situation, I really don’t. I just— did you ever ask him out? Did you ever actually ask him on a date?” I open and close my mouth several times before hanging my head.

“I didn’t— I didn’t think— I just didn’t think… We just got along so well from the very beginning and I thought he would know that I was, you know… _interested_ , flirting with him, I guess.” Namjoon scoffs “Didn’t ask the boy on a single date but you get into _one_  fight and you lose your shit and get an entire tattoo for him.” I blanch at that “I don’t want to talk about _it_ , but I definitely did _not_  get this because of that-- because of _him_.” He raises his hands in surrender.

“You were saying something about how Jimin should’ve been able to read your mind?” I roll my eyes at him “Fuck off, I’m being serious. I mean I braved the real world for him Joon, like every night. Sometimes I would go into the cafe a little earlier than normal just to spend more time with him and there would still be people there and they would try to talk to me. Talk to _me_.” Joon says ‘ _Antisocial ass_ ’ under his breath and I nod “Yes exactly! I am and Jimin knows that, but I still made an effort to see him even when I felt like I was annoying him… I want to be his friend, _I am his friend_ —”

I heave a sigh “I just didn’t know he didn’t feel the same way.” I have to admit that I may have overstepped my bounds when lecturing Jimin about the showcase and I’m going to apologize for that but I was kind of blindsided when Jimin said that we were just friends so adamantly. I’m not an expert on social graces, not by a long shot, but I thought at the least that I could read our relationship better than that.

Now that I know where we stand though I’ll adjust. I’m obviously sad that the feelings are unrequited but that doesn’t change how much I care and support the boy. I’m not the type of person to drop someone just because they don’t fit into the mold I need them to fill out in my life.

“Yoongi.” I’m snapped out of my thoughts by Namjoon nudging my foot with his own. “I see where your minds going and I’m asking you to just— _not_. It’s unfair for you to assume that Jimin doesn’t have some or any type of romantic feelings for you just because he made an off handed comment during the first argument of your friendship. Don’t distance yourself now, it wouldn’t be fair to either one of you.” I scrub my hand down my face “I’m not going to stop talking to him Joon, I’m not lik—”

“That’s not what I said, Yoongi. You can pull away from someone and still be around them. You’ve let Jimin see more of the real you then you’ve shown anyone else in a really long time. Hell, when Taehyung first started hanging out with us he thought you were either a drug dealer or a vigilante.”

He sees the confusion settle on my face so he continues “You told him about your migraines six months after you met him. You remember, you were changing meds at the time so you were constantly having to cancel plans last minute and the only time you felt up to do anything was at night. Add that on top of your lavish taste for well— _everything_ , and the bags under your eyes that makes it looks like you joined Kook’s fight club... He settled on drug dealer or vigilante.” I just shake my head not really knowing what to do with the information. I remind myself to tease Taehyung about it later, but for now Namjoon pulls me from my thoughts “I know how you are, Yoongi. We’ve been friends for what feels like a fuckin’ lifetime and a half, so I know that you’ll still go to that cute cafe most nights, but you won’t keep trying to pursue anything with Jimin. I think that’s a huge mistake. For the both of you.” I lean my head back, looking at the star and moon glow in the dark sticker decals that we put on the ceiling of his studio. I realize that these have been up here for years, shit probably practically as soon as he moved into this apartment. Before a single practical box was unpacked, we had set up all of his studio equipment— much to Jin’s chagrin. “I trust you, Joon… He just... made it extremely clear what our roles are in this relationship.”

He tries to contradict me but I stop him “You didn’t hear his tone. It was firm, serious. I've never heard him like that, but there was no wiggle room.” Namjoon sighs, obviously done fighting this battle for today “Just keep in mind what I said, okay?” I nod.

“So tell me more about the meeting and how this trainwreck happened.” Joon says grabbing his cup off the desk. “I... set the meeting at Latte Luna,” Namjoon’s eyes bulge “You did what? You took him to Latta Luna? You took him to our cafe? You took him to the cafe that gave you your small fortune? You took him to the foundation of the Min empire? You took him to your own personal source of cafe? You took him to your own personal source of caffeine? You took—”

“Okay! I get it Joon.” I say with a short nod, “It’s not a big deal. I don’t have a fuckin’ fortune or an _empire_ , the cafe doesn’t even bring in a ¼ of my money so even if I had those things they wouldn’t be the foundation. I didn’t tell him it was mine and even if I did, it wouldn’t have been a big deal… I mean he has to know that I don’t make all my money from producing.” I huff, blowing my bangs out of my face after I’m done with my fast-talked spiel.

Namjoon looks a little stunned but I continue “Anyway, the greatest hits: I closed the deal with Titan so at least that’s done. They agreed to Jungkook and Taehyung’s stupid fucking terms so that’s happening… I don’t know we all just talked... I’m— I’m pretty sure Ten is into Jimin.” Namjoon rolls his eyes so hard I’m surprised they’re not in the floor “I thought Titan was like a power couple type of deal.” He comments to be followed quickly by a snort from me “Hell no, _Taeyong and Ten_? No.” Namjoon settles with a ‘ _huh_ ’.

“So when did everything turn sour? Nothing you’ve told me tells me how we ended up... here.” I rub my temples “Ten wants to be his new partner for the showcase and he was like ‘ _I might not even be in the showcase so no because that wouldn’t be fair to you._ ’, which I don’t know the extent of your relationship with Jimin but being in the showcase— preparing for the showcase is the only time he ever gets to dance. I know that if he doesn’t participate just because he can’t afford to, I know that it will push him a step closer into to thinking that he’s not good enough to be a professional dancer. I’m not okay with that line of thinking _period_ , but especially not over monetary concerns.”

Namjoon sinks back into his desk chair and sighs. “I’m going to ask you something and I don’t want you take it the wrong way.” I roll my eyes at his dramatics but agree “Have you... have you ever even seen Jimin dance?” _I honestly can’t believe him_.

“I can’t believe you. Namjoon, why the hell would I have so much faith in the kid if I’ve never even seen him dance? _Of fucking course I have_. He tends to not eat on the days he goes from his afternoon classes straight to the studio so I’ve taken to stopping in on those days with takeout… He’s also commandeered my living room a couple times because he was feeling antsy on our movie nights… scared the shit out of Holly every time.” Namjoon raises his hands in surrender.

“I was just asking Jesus Christ, Yoongi. It’s just… I’ve known Jimin for almost as long as I’ve known Tae. He wasn’t one of the kids I helped in the traditional sense, his family is still intact but they’re very… I guess you could say that they’re old fashioned. They still believe that you have to go to college, have a degree and have a 9 to 5 to be worth your salt.” He sighs, “Hali, _the woman I interned with_ , took care of Taehyung when his case was first brought in and you probably know by now that Tae and Jimin have been friends since birth so we worked in close contact with Jimin as well. While Jimin’s parents didn’t technically hit the requirements for abuse, they weren’t exactly good to him. To put it simply, despite his family being well off, he wasn’t looked after for more than his basic needs. Hali didn’t like that and instilled in me the philosophy that ‘ _the state may not recognise it as abuse, but if we are to do our jobs effectively then we must and work around the rules we’re bound by_ ’.”

“I’m telling you all of this because Jimin was brought up believing that he would only be worth something if he grew up and had a ‘proper’ job. He had people in his life who tried to tell him the contrary, just as we tell him now but all he has left outside of us is his mother and unfortunately time hasn’t made her any more kind.” He rubs his hand down his face “I know you’ve come to care for Jimin, Yoongi. I can see that. This is just something that you can’t fix… My best advice is to apologize, try to not offer him any more money— ever and try and help him in another way. _Be creative_.”

I nod and he hits my knee in a very ‘ _atta boy_ ’ kinda way. There’s a buzz on the intercom and Namjoon rubs his temples. “Worst decision of my life having these things put in.” He mumbles and pushes the button “Yes, dear.” He says expecting Jin on the other line.

“Oh Joon, you flatter.” Hobi says is a sweet voice “Jin says for you to and I’m just quoting here ‘Stop hiding in that fucking hobbit hole and spend time with your family. Also he said that he repacked your bag and needs you to finalize the housing. Oh and Tae, Kook, and Jimin have been here for like 20 minutes and Jimin for sure thinks you’re avoiding him, Yoongi.”

“Oh my god.” I say burying my face in my hands “This weekend just started and it’s already a shit show.” Joon adds making it 1000x worse.

“Kill me now.”


	17. The Gang Hits The Road (1/2)

 

{ _Taehyung_ }

“All I’m saying is that the Sherlock Holmes movie franchise has plenty of merits. I mean how bad can a movie be if the starring actor is Robert Downey Jr.?” Hobi asks leaning across the bar that separates the dining room and the living room. To this Jungkook scoffs “No Hobi there isn’t plenty of merits for RDJ’s Sherlock, there’s only three. One, he’s super hot so that almost makes it worth it. Two, Moriarty could still be alive and he’s literally the best villain Sherlock has. And three, and most importantly, it’s existence alongside Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock opens up the possibilities for ‘no shit Sherlock’ jokes in Infinity War.”

“As long as it’s anything but the Gnomes movie. I don’t think Johnny Depp is suited to be Sherlock.” Jin says in passing “Ah hell Jin, don’t get him started!” Jungkook starts on a ramble about how _‘it was a disgrace to Sherlock’s everywhere’_  and I move my focus to Jungkook’s dog who is sleeping on my lap.

I’ve grown close to the pup, _who Jungkook is still on the fence about naming Haku_ , over the past week and a half. Jungkook and I have come a long way since our ‘soulmate conversation’ in his apartment. I wouldn’t say that we’ve progressed passed our past relationship by any means but things like that take time right?

Honestly, even if I wanted to take a step in that direction I don’t even know how I would, I feel like I’ve set us ten steps back before we even got started. My viewpoint of us, of Jungkook rather, has changed and changes every time I see him. In times I used to think _‘I don’t want to go home, I just want to hang out with you.’_  I always assumed that I was being clingy or I just missed my best friend. Now that I look back I realize that feeling is anything but platonic… The thought was, in reality, more like _‘I don’t want to go home, home doesn’t have you and I only want to be with you.’_

I know that if I don’t find a way to vocalize these thoughts eventually we’re going to end up right back where we were, but a relationship scares me and the thought of hurting Kook scares me even more. I can see how the rest of the guys look at me, it’s like they’re trying to figure out if I’m serious or if I’m just telling Jungkook what he wants to hear. I would be hurt that they’re so protective over him to the point of alienating me in this admittedly small way, but I often find myself chastising myself over my own thoughts. _‘What if this doesn’t work?’_  or _‘What if I convinced myself I feel this way because I couldn’t live without him?’_  are two that frequent my mind often.

The only person that knows I’m in this small turmoil is Jimin and he seems to find it silly. “You didn’t convince yourself you feel that way about him because you can’t live without him Tae, you feel that way so, in turn, you can’t live without him. Cause and effect.” We tend to go round and round about it until he gets sick of listening to me whine and tells me to go spend time with Kook.

I look over at Jimin who is sitting on the couch across from me with a pinch in his brows. He looks at his phone, scrolls for a second then glances towards the hallway. I watch him do this several times before I realize why exactly he’s doing it. Yoongi and Jimin got into their first fight today, and while I don’t know all the details I know it wasn’t an easy one and it wasn’t resolved before they parted. Add that on top of the fact that hours later Yoongi goes and gets his second tattoo _ever_ , it’s a combination for disaster. It’s also a combination for me to kick his tiny little ass.

I carefully slide pup over onto the couch and approach Hobi, Jungkook, and Jin. I hook my chin over Jungkook’s shoulder and wait for his ranting about some video game release date to be over. I look to Hobi who is trying, and _failing_ , to eye me without me noticing. _Well there goes the remnants of my good mood_.

I unhook my chin and take a seat in the stool closest to Jin, which gets me a look from the said man. I can’t fucking win. “Hey, Kook sorry to interrupt but does anyone know where the fuck Yoongi is?” I see Jimin’s head snap up to where we are and it just confirms my suspicions.

“He’s in the RKive.” Jin says in an exasperated tone “They’ve been in there for like two hours.”

“Wait, Yoongi’s here?” Jungkook says looking toward the hall. “What the fuck?” Jimin sighs as he shoves his headphones over his ears. We all fall quiet for a moment before Hobi runs around the bar “I’m going to use the intercom!” He says diving over the couch to the side table furthest from us. He uses the small answering machine looking device to buzz Namjoon and Yoongi in Joon’s studio.

“Yes dear,” Namjoon says in a sweet -although tired- tone. “Oh Joon, you flatter,” Hobi says in a playful tone. He’s about to say something when Jin walks over to him “Let me talk to him.” Jin says holding out his hand and Hobi frowns “No! Jin, let me do it! You never let me play with the intercom!” He replies with a whine.

They stare at each other for a moment before Jin relents, dropping his hand to his side. “I’m not even thirty yet and I have five kids.” He sighs as he starts to walk back toward the bar “Just tell him to stop hiding in that fucking Hobbit hole and spend time with his family.”

Hobi nods and is about to relay the message when Jin shouts “Oh! Tell him that I repacked his bag and he needs to confirm the booking of the cabin.” Hobi gives a thumbs up and Jin walks out of the room towards the bedrooms.

“Hey,” Kook says softly pulling my attention away from Hobi. I hum in response, going to grab his hand that's laying on the counter before thinking better of it. Hobi makes a reappearance at the bar before shuffling a bit further into the kitchen looking for snacks. “Don’t let them do that.” He says his voice still hushed. “Do what Kook?”

“You know… Make you feel like we haven’t made up… Like you can’t, you know, touch me.” He grabs my hand and smiles “You’re my best friend and I— I forgive you. That’s all that matters.” I look at our intertwined fingers and smile.

“Kook, I—” A yelp sounded to our left followed by a colorful string of cuss words. “Dammit! Whose suitcase is this? Kook?” Jungkook scoffs “What because it’s in the way, it’s mine?”

Namjoon gestures at the suitcase and Hobi sheepishly sneaks past to pull it out of the way. “How did this get here? Must be ghosts. Definitely ghosts.” He mumbles and Jungkook and I giggle.

Yoongi shows up seconds later and takes one look at Jimin and heads straight for the kitchen. I grumble and Jungkook seems to agree, giving a glance back at Jimin before squeezing my hand once and following Yoongi.

 

{ _Jungkook_ }

“What’d you do to Jimin?” I ask Yoongi, _or rather demand_ , who is now choking on his drink. “What- What are you- What the hell, Jungkook?” He asks as Hobi smacks his back a few times before grabbing all his snacks and yelling ’ _coming Tae_ ’, when not a peep was heard from the living room, then proceeds to dash out of the kitchen.

“You guys had your first fight today, I know that much for sure. What I don’t know is why he’s… fuck, I don’t know like _that_.” Yoongi doesn’t say anything, just blinks at me so I continue “I’m being serious. I fight with Ji all the time, sometimes it’s about more serious things, sometimes it’s about why they named Pikachu Pikachu and he’s never—” I run a hand down my face “Ugh forget it, my point is— No, my question is, what the hell did you fight about that was so bad that he looks like you kicked his puppy? I mean I know Tae and Ji have a kitten but you get—”

“Jesus Christ Kook, I didn’t do— I really didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to cause a fight, I didn’t mean to upset him, to trivialize his feelings or monetary concerns, I didn’t mean to get a tattoo _that Namjoon insists is related to or directly about Jimin_ , I didn’t mean to hurt Tae... because I know did. I know he’ll probably bitch at me but he’ll play it off as a joke and I know that he’s actually hurt and that kills me. I feel like all I’ve done recently is mess things up and I don’t— I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” He slumps against the counter.

“It’s been hard since you moved out.” He says quietly before sliding down the cabinet, back leaned against the cabinet door. “The apartment is too quiet.” I’m quick to follow his lead and sit leaning against the island across from him.

“Yoongi… What’s going on man?” He shakes his head, eyes on his hands fiddling with a string on his hoodie. “Nothing, Kookie. Change is just hard, ‘sall... Change is hard and it’s work and— and—”

“Yoon,” I say putting a hand on his knee. “It’s okay, man. It’s okay.” He rubs his forehead, a sure sign of a stressed Yoongi, and sighs. “I don’t know how to fix things, Kookie. I don’t know where to start. How do I apologize to Jimin? To Tae? How do I get this fucking drunk cat off my ankle?”

I take a breath before answering him “You pull Tae aside. You tell him you’re sorry and tell him _honestly_  why and how the tattoo came about then you offer to get a tattoo of his choice and you _honestly mean that too._ ” He nods along not looking me but listening to me all the same.

“As for Jimin… I don’t know all the gritty details, so I can’t give you the best advice but Jimin is a sensitive creature. He’s an enigma though... He’s one of the most humble people I know but he’s also got this ego that’s like a weight that he hauls around on his shoulders… it’s not like he thinks his shit doesn’t stink or something, it’s just pride.” I stretch out my legs “He’s almost impossible to help but you can’t help but want to. I have almost no information about the fight but I have a feeling that’s kind of what this is about.”

He nods slightly “Did you offer him money?” He nods again and I suck a breath through my teeth “Ah, Yoongi. The last time this happened it was Hobi. Tae and Jimin were behind on rent so Hobi tricked Tae into giving him his half and then Hobi, having known their landlord for years, I think she’s the mother of one of his students I don’t know. Anyway, he paid the other half, Jimin’s half. Jimin refused to come to the studio for like two months and watched the entire new season of Game of Thrones without him. You know how much Hobi loves that show, right? Jimin is the one that got him into it. They wait until the season is completely done airing and then watch it, but Jimin being so mad at him watched it all without him. It honestly doesn’t sound like much, but it was _their_  thing, you know? Hobi was devastated. Everyone’s been too afraid to do it again. No one wants to deal with Jimin’s passive aggressive punishments.”

“As I said before, this advice probably won’t stand, but here goes; apologize only for what you’re sorry for. Be honest and direct. Don’t wait too long… And above all try to avoid making him feel like you’re patronizing, belittling, minimizing, or trying to solve his problems.” I brush my hair out of my face “With Jimin most of the time, all he needs is someone to listen to him and show him that he’s being heard.”

Yoongi looks at me with a small smile and gives my shin a soft tap “Thanks, Kook.” I give a shrug “It’s what I do and I’m what they call the best.” He kicks me harder and I slap his leg away. Jin pokes his head into the kitchen “Five-minute warning, we head out at exactly ten thirty.” He takes a second to _really_  look at us, spread out on the floor, a ruffled Yoongi with red glossy eyes, me cupping my shin grimacing hard in Yoongi’s general direction “I see you’re having one of ‘the meeting of the minds’ in my kitchen floor, but I need you to pull it together and get ready to have a trip full of family fun.” He narrows his eyes at us “Family fun _whether you like it or not_. And _you_ ” He says pointing at Yoongi “Apologize to Jimin. That’s all he needs. Literally, say I’m sorry and this is all over. Seeing him all angsty breaks my heart so just fucking do it already.”

He moves his attention to me “And you Mr. Jeon Jungkook; Hobi, Joon, Yoongi and I might be skeptical of the new direction your relationship with Tae is going at times but please, _please_  don’t ever let our opinions sway how you feel. I just told Tae the same thing moments ago and I told Hobi to stop watching you two like a hawk.” He shifts his weight to his other foot “I’m here for you guys, I really am. We’ve seen how perfect you guys were for each other since you were actual children. There’s no way we’re not going to be on the sidelines cheering you guys on.”

My cheeks are a deep red by the time Jin stops talking “I really appreciate the support Jinnie, but we’re just friends for right now. Have to build that base again you know?” He nods as he ruffles my hair on our way back into the living room.

We’re all herded towards the hall leading to the front door, bags already in the car thanks to Namjoon and Hobi. “Okay! It’s now—” He pauses “It’s now exactly 10:30 on the dot. We’re out of here!” Jin exclaims.

Tae pulls Jimin and I close to him and grumbles about how he’s already carsick just thinking of the seven-hour drive to the cabin we’re staying in. “Don’t you even think about getting sick in the car Kim Taehyung. Oh! If you didn’t already know, we rented a huge car. It’s a-- babe what’s it called?” He asks Jin.

“It’s a 2019 Lincoln Navigator, Sweet-cheeks. AKA my dream car, AKA the best car on the market, AKA a condo on wheels, AKA--” Hobi answers. “I— I wasn’t talking to you Hobes, but thank you for that enthusiastic answer. I take it you like the car?” Namjoon does a final headcount and locks the door behind us.

“Let’s just say— If I could, I would have left Junhong for this car ages ago.” There’s a collective eye roll and we shuffle our way toward the elevators. “Kook, do you want to take the stairs? I skipped my workout yesterday so I really don’t mind.” Hobi asks me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

“Ah,” I watch Jin push the down button and think about how irrational my fear really is “No, I’m okay. Thanks for the offer though.” I give a weak smile. The seven of us squeeze into the elevator and I open my phone to send Yugyeom a quick text that we're on the way back to my place to drop off Haku.

The elevator stops only a few floors down and the person starts to try to squeeze in when Yoongi says “There’s clearly no room” and rapidly pushes the close door button. I mumble a small thank you and there’s a replying grunt from Yoongi.

“Okay, here’s the plan. We’ll all load into the car and drive to Kook’s to give the pup to Yugyeom. From there we hit the road until everyone's hungry then we stop. We finish the drive, check in, and get some shut eye.” Namjoon says shuffling all of us out of the elevator. “Okay, I’ll go get the car!” Hobi runs after him, too excited to wait with us.

I set my sights on a longing Min Yoongi and I can’t help but sigh. Jimin is laying his head on Tae’s shoulder, looking tired in more ways than one. I lean a bit closer to Yoongi “Go talk to Jimin.” I say nudging his elbow with mine. “Go.” He gives me a dirty look but takes a few dragging steps toward the two boys wrapped up together to avoid the cold.

It’s funny watching this interaction from the outside, both parties being awkward and overly eager to talk to each other. Tae unwraps his arms from Jimin’s shoulder and meets my eyes with the same amused twinkle residing there. He sidesteps over to where I’m standing to give them ‘privacy’, but honestly in this small carport area where we’re waiting there’s not a lot of privacy to be had.

We’re just out of earshot of whatever mumbled nonsense Yoongi says to Jimin. All I caught was ‘ _I’m an idiot—_ ’ and ‘ _Please don’t think—_ ’. I look at Tae who’s looking at Yoongi and Jimin with a calculated glare? That’s not the right word, I know Yoongi is a bit miffed at Yoongi for upsetting Jimin but he’s not mad so I think he’s just watching over Jimin. It’s a look of protectiveness.

“So what do you think they’re talking about?” I ask him, bumping him with my hip “The weather?” The tension in his face disappears as he laughs “Yeah, I suppose they are.” He wraps his arm and effectively his blanket around my shoulders and clasps his hands together on my chest.

Jimin laughs moments later at something Yoongi says and I feel Taehyung release a breath I don’t even think he knew he was holding. I lean my head back against the crook of his neck and shoulder, suddenly feeling the running of my busy day weigh on me. “Where’s Joon and Hobes? I just want to sleep for the next 7 hours.” I say in a whine that I’m too tired to even be ashamed of.

“Like you’d do anything else on a road trip?” Tae says with a huffy laugh. My ability to sleep while in a car is highly coveted within our friend group. I tend to fall asleep within the hour of departure and sleep for hours at a time. I sleep more on trips then I do normally.

Namjoon and Hobi _finally_  pull up in the car and I have to say that I’m not really impressed. It looks like every other black SUV I’ve ever seen, but I don’t want to put a damper on Hobi or Joon’s mood so I don’t comment on it. I have to remember to have Yugyeom come down when we get to my place so at least someone can genuinely appreciate it.

“Pile in!” Jin says once again corralling us towards the car.


End file.
